Quote:

An inquiry has been called and a byelection for the entire state of Western Australia could be on the cards after the Australian Electoral Commission revealed 1375 ballot papers are missing from the WA Senate recount. Electoral Commissioner Ed Killesteyn has apologised for the missing papers, which he said could not be found despite "exhaustive efforts" to locate them. Mick Keelty, former commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, will head an inquiry into the missing WA Senate votes. Mick Keelty, former commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, will head an inquiry into the missing WA Senate votes. Former Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Keelty has been called in to conduct an independent inquiry. Advertisement Special Minister of State Michael Ronaldson has moved quickly to criticise the AEC for the missing papers. "I have personally expressed to the Electoral Commissioner my strong view that this situation is totally unsatisfactory and that I, as the responsible Minister, view this matter very dimly,'' Senator Ronaldson said. Special Minister of State Michael Ronaldson has called an inquiry into the missing votes. Special Minister of State Michael Ronaldson said it is ''totally unsatisfactory" for votes to have gone missing. "Incidents such as this go to the heart of the AEC's reputation.  Trust in our democratic institutions is paramount." According to the AEC, 1375 votes that had been verified during the initial WA Senate count could not be "located, rechecked or verified in the recount process". These votes were classified as 1255 formal above-the-line ballots and 120 informal votes. The WA recount began on October 17, after a successful bid by the Greens and the Australian Sports Party to have the extremely close result reviewed. Greens Senator Scott Ludlam and the Sports Party's Wayne Dropulich lost the election to the Palmer United Party's Zhenya 'Dio' Wang and Labor's Louise Pratt, who took the fifth and sixth available Senate spots. But the result hinged on a crucial 14-vote margin at one stage of the count, when the Shooters and Fishers Party edged out the Australian Christians, meaning preferences ultimately flowed to the PUP and Labor. AEC spokesman Phil Diak said that the commission knew that most of the votes had come from the electoral division of Pearce with a lesser number from Forrest. He said the commission had looked at all the places where the 1375 papers had been. "From here, obviously, we do consider them misplaced, we have tried all avenues," he told ABC 24. This is not the first time missing votes have featured in the 2013 election campaign. During the tight race to claim the Victorian seat of Indi, a missing pile of votes for eventual winner Cathy McGowan was discovered and put down to a "clerical error". In the first count for Fairfax, about 750 votes were recorded for a Buderim centre that should have been recorded at Coolum Beach. PUP leader Clive Palmer has been highly critical of the Australian Electoral Commission since the election on September 7, saying that the recount is "undemocratic". On Thursday Mr Palmer tweeted that the missing votes were "another" AEC fraud and that the AEC "should declare [the] recount invalid and restore original result". He went on to accuse the AEC of deliberately rigging the election.. "It's just trying to rig the election, it's trying to stop our party from having the balance of power and the AEC interfering in politics," he told ABC radio on Thursday afternoon. Senator Ludlam said the result should not be declared until the votes were found and while Mr Keelty was conducting his investigation. "We do feel completely justified in calling the recount in the first place," he told reporters in Sydney. The Greens senator said he wasn't able to speculate on why the papers had gone missing. "This has come out of the blue," he said of the missing papers. Senator Ludlam has previously said his scrutineers found "handfuls" of wrongly assigned votes during the recount. ABC election analyst Antony Green suggested on Thursday that WA voters could be headed towards the first Senate byelection. He said the missing votes were almost certainly down to an administrative error but noted that another Senate vote would be an ''acute embarrassment" for the AEC. "It's entirely possible that the vote would have been the same [with the missing votes included] but the problem is the the ballot papers cannot be verified," Mr Green said.  The AEC says it will shortly declare a result for the WA recount, but added it would "strongly consider whether any petition to the Court of Disputed Returns is necessary". Mr Diak said that according to the Electoral Act, candidates and voters could also petition for the Court of Disputed Returns to look at the WA vote. But he said the AEC could not comment on the likelihood there would be another vote. The new WA senators are not due to start their terms in the Federal Parliament until July 2014

Find it rather unacceptable how 1375 votes just go missing like that, now there is a chance for a byelection. Thoughts and opinions?

Unless these votes are found, nothing can make this right.

MOTR wrote on Oct 31^st, 2013 at 5:02pm:

Unless these votes are found, nothing can make this right.

Unless they have already been 'recounted,' the AEC is backed right into a corner, and will probably have to revert to the original count outcome.  I doubt there will be another election.

Ya know lots of sheeple put schit on Clive because weeks ago, he made public statements highly critical of the AEC and our archaic voting process.  Seems he was batting 100.

MOTR wrote on Oct 31^st, 2013 at 5:02pm:

Unless these votes are found, nothing can make this right.

Totally agree. Also added highlights to particular key information.

Clive's comments:



Quote:

“How do you manage to lose that many votes and will somebody take responsibility for this fiasco and fall on their sword?” Mr Palmer said. “The AEC has just become a joke and a fraud with some of the mistakes that have been made during the 2013 federal election counting. “The recount in WA should be declared invalid and the original result restored as it was the only one which has every ballot was counted. ”The AEC agreed to a request for a recount from the Greens despite Palmer United Party candidate Dio Wang being declared the winner of the fifth Senate seat in WA. Mr Palmer said the Palmer United Party had strongly rejected the AEC's decision to order a recount as well as its move to only recount above the line ballots. “There have already been discrepancies in this recount with several hundred ballots mistakenly placed in the informal pile,” he said. “We have already seen a number of discrepancies in the counting in my electorate of Fairfax on the Sunshine Coast. “Is the AEC trying to rig the election? Are they committing a fraud? Or are they just completely incompetent? “Certainly our experience from this election is that there are many issues with Australia’s voting system and the AEC needs urgent reform.”

and now piggy is complaining his man won and should stay WON.




PALMER United Party federal leader Clive Palmer has demanded the Australian Electoral Commission declare the recount of the Senate vote in Western Australia invalid after more than 1300 votes went missing.

Mr Palmer said the admission from the AEC Commissioner of a "serious administrative issue" where 1375 votes could not be recounted was another example of the "incompetent and fraudulent conduct of the AEC".

"How do you manage to lose that many votes and will somebody take responsibility for this fiasco and fall on their sword?" Mr Palmer said.

"The AEC has just become a joke and a fraud with some of the mistakes that have been made during the 2013 federal election counting.

"The recount in WA should be declared invalid and the original result restored as it was the only one which has every ballot counted."


I am not sure why. ::). but somehow I cant see piggy saying that had his bloke lost first time round... ;D ;D


HILARIOUS>

cods wrote on Oct 31^st, 2013 at 5:28pm:

and now piggy is complaining his man won and should stay WON. PALMER United Party federal leader Clive Palmer has demanded the Australian Electoral Commission declare the recount of the Senate vote in Western Australia invalid after more than 1300 votes went missing. Mr Palmer said the admission from the AEC Commissioner of a "serious administrative issue" where 1375 votes could not be recounted was another example of the "incompetent and fraudulent conduct of the AEC". "How do you manage to lose that many votes and will somebody take responsibility for this fiasco and fall on their sword?" Mr Palmer said. "The AEC has just become a joke and a fraud with some of the mistakes that have been made during the 2013 federal election counting. "The recount in WA should be declared invalid and the original result restored as it was the only one which has every ballot counted." I am not sure why. ::). but somehow I cant see piggy saying that had his bloke lost first time round... ;D ;D HILARIOUS>

I am phucked if I or anyone else in Australia can see the 'hilarity.'

PUP won the 4th Senate position on the first count.  It seems the first recount is now compromised.

So, logically cods, what happens next?

Maybe Clive ate them... ;D

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/files/images/palmerland%20......jpg

cods wrote on Oct 31^st, 2013 at 5:28pm:

and now piggy is complaining his man won and should stay WON. PALMER United Party federal leader Clive Palmer has demanded the Australian Electoral Commission declare the recount of the Senate vote in Western Australia invalid after more than 1300 votes went missing. Mr Palmer said the admission from the AEC Commissioner of a "serious administrative issue" where 1375 votes could not be recounted was another example of the "incompetent and fraudulent conduct of the AEC". "How do you manage to lose that many votes and will somebody take responsibility for this fiasco and fall on their sword?" Mr Palmer said. "The AEC has just become a joke and a fraud with some of the mistakes that have been made during the 2013 federal election counting. "The recount in WA should be declared invalid and the original result restored as it was the only one which has every ballot counted." I am not sure why. ::). but somehow I cant see piggy saying that had his bloke lost first time round... ;D ;D HILARIOUS>

I have to agree with you there

Government doesn't believe foul play responsible for missing ballot mystery

Quote:

The Federal Government says it is unlikely "skulduggery" is behind the disappearance of more than 1,300 ballot papers from the Western Australian Senate recount. Special Minister of State Michael Ronaldson says he has personally expressed his view to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) that the loss of the 1,375 votes is completely unsatisfactory. But he says he does not think someone has deliberately hidden the ballots. "I don't think this is an issue of skulduggery because the ballot papers, my understanding, gave first preferences to a number of parties," he told 720 ABC Perth. "So, it wasn't someone who saw x number of votes for a particular party and took it upon themselves to remove them." One of the potential options being canvassed to resolve the impasse is for Western Australian voters to return to the polls. But Senator Ronaldson has cautioned against jumping to conclusions before the poll is declared. "We are in completely uncharted waters," he says. "I think people have got to be cautious about jumping to a decision which is way at the end of the process." Senator Ronaldson says he is worried about the impact of the incident on the reputation of the AEC. "These sort of incidents effectively can, if you like, negate the trust that people have in the commission."

Aussie wrote on Oct 31^st, 2013 at 5:31pm:

PUP won the 4th Senate position on the first count.  It seems the first recount is now compromised. So, logically cods, what happens next?

The recount proves that the first count was compromised.

So "logically" a re-election happens next.

Grendel wrote on Oct 31^st, 2013 at 7:17pm:

Maybe Clive ate them... ;D http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/files/images/palmerland%20......jpg

HILARIOUS GRENDEL...piggy to a T...lets see him spit the dummy when he doesnt get what he DEMANDS>.

lolololol

Bam wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 1:27pm:

Government doesn't believe foul play responsible for missing ballot mystery Quote: The Federal Government says it is unlikely "skulduggery" is behind the disappearance of more than 1,300 ballot papers from the Western Australian Senate recount. Special Minister of State Michael Ronaldson says he has personally expressed his view to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) that the loss of the 1,375 votes is completely unsatisfactory. But he says he does not think someone has deliberately hidden the ballots. "I don't think this is an issue of skulduggery because the ballot papers, my understanding, gave first preferences to a number of parties," he told 720 ABC Perth. "So, it wasn't someone who saw x number of votes for a particular party and took it upon themselves to remove them." so WHY the need for Mick Kelty? One of the potential options being canvassed to resolve the impasse is for Western Australian voters to return to the polls. But Senator Ronaldson has cautioned against jumping to conclusions before the poll is declared. so another vote is on the table? "We are in completely uncharted waters," he says. "I think people have got to be cautious about jumping to a decision which is way at the end of the process." Senator Ronaldson says he is worried about the impact of the incident on the reputation of the AEC. "These sort of incidents effectively can, if you like, negate the trust that people have in the commission."

WHY would he think THAT?

I am hoping someone is looking to change the whole system..

but that may be too easy. ::) ::)

polite_gandalf wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 1:28pm:

Aussie wrote on Oct 31st, 2013 at 5:31pm: PUP won the 4th Senate position on the first count.  It seems the first recount is now compromised. So, logically cods, what happens next? The recount proves that the first count was compromised. So "logically" a re-election happens next.

No, the ballot papers were lost after the first count was completed, and during the recount.

Democracy at work? Who's watching the counters?

The more you look at the system the more it stinks.

True Colours wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 4:24pm:

Democracy at work? Who's watching the counters? The more you look at the system the more it stinks.

I am surprised they didnt have cameras up everywhere...were this boxes sealed?. were they under lock and key when the count was over for the day?.

did the cleaners come in and empty the bins.. a good way to smuggle stuff out...

we have to do better thats for sure.

Aussie wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 4:01pm:

No, the ballot papers were lost after the first count was completed, and during the recount.

No, before that hundreds of ballot papers had been identified as incorrectly marked as informal. Obviously that discredits the first count.

polite_gandalf wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:58pm:

Aussie wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 4:01pm: No, the ballot papers were lost after the first count was completed, and during the recount. No, before that hundreds of ballot papers had been identified as incorrectly marked as informal. Obviously that discredits the first count.

Yeas.....but that may have been clarified and may have nothing to do with the now missing 1400 ballot papers.

The AEC have said they will announce a result.  I guess that is all they can do, and then leave it to anyone aggrieved to take it to the High Court (sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns.)

If there is no challenge to whatever the AEC says is final.............then it's finished.

Pretty poor all round. 

If they can't be found, we must have a byelection. What's the worst that can happen, we get a result that reflects the current will of the people.

As much as I suspect this will favour the conservatives, a byelection must proceed. Laws must also be passed to ensure those later found guilty of electoral fraud are imprisoned for life. 

MOTR wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 8:18pm:

...As much as I suspect this will favour the conservatives...

How could it favour the conservatives? They were given 4 seats in the first count of the WA senate vote. Do you expect them to win 5 seats or perhaps all 6 if there was a fresh election?

Pratt and Wang are out.

Confirmed:


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-02/aec-announces-wa-senate-results-amid-missing-ballots/5065974


WA Senate recount results:

David Johnston - Liberal Party
Joe Bullock - Australian Labor Party
Michaelia Cash - Liberal Party
Linda Reynolds - Liberal Party
Wayne Dropulich - Australian Sports Party
Scott Ludlam - Greens