Election process criticised again after commission findings

Sarah Davison | The Examiner | 22 July 2021   

This year’s state election forced some Tasmanians to consider their votes for both the Upper and Lower houses.

On May 1, more than 50,000 voters in the Legislative Council divisions of Derwent and Windermere needed to vote at two elections, which some voters claimed caused confusion.

Calls for an inquiry into the process followed, with the Legislative Council voting in favour of forming a joint selection committee to review the administration and conduct of the elections.

But it has yet to be supported by the Lower House.

Nelson independent MLC Meg Webb, who brought on the motion to establish the inquiry, has come out swinging again after a Tasmanian Electoral Commission report was released.

“Four thousand voters disenfranchised in a Tasmanian election is a shocking failure of our democratic process, but one that is hardly surprising given the Premier forced an unprecedented and untested concurrent election on our state,” she said.

According to the report, the Electoral Commissioner stated publicly that he hoped the shared polling day would increase the turnout at Legislative Council elections given state elections traditionally had a 10 to 15 per cent higher turnout.

However, the participation rates at the Legislative Council elections were identified as being about 9 per cent lower than those for the associated House of Assembly divisions.

The report said that the snap election campaign and a lack of resources had prohibited all Tasmanian polling location to allow dual polling.

It said 1723 voters in Windemere attended a “House of Assembly only” polling place or mobile polling location and therefore voted only at the state election.

The report also found that 31 Windermere voters voted at a dual polling place but appear to have only been issued a House of Assembly ballot paper due to administrative error.

“Far from being an end to this matter, this report is a compelling argument that the Joint Parliamentary Inquiry into the administration of the 2021 elections needs to be supported in the lower house and established as promptly as possible,” Ms Webb said.

“Such an inquiry would provide a publicly accountable way for evidence such as this report to be examined along with other expert advice to produce findings and recommendations to inform the conduct of future elections in this state.

“Most importantly, such an inquiry is the only way to fully restore public confidence in our state’s electoral system and the health of our democracy.”

See Meg’s Motion calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the 2021 state and Legislative Council elections.