The razor thin One Nation win in South Australia’s rural seat of Narungga faces yet another round of questioning following the disclosure made by the state electoral commission that some ballot papers were not counted and will lead to a third count of the ballots on Friday.
According to the Electoral Commission of South Australia, 77 ballot papers of ordinary votes and four ballot papers for declarations for the seat of Narungga had been discovered that were not opened because they had been posted back from the electorate of Stuart.
The 81 votes are far more than the winning margin of 58 votes by which Chantelle Thomas of One Nation won the election ahead of Liberal candidate Tania Stock.
In a statement, acting commissioner Leah McLay stated: “Upon discovering that votes have not been counted, I have secured these votes and ordered that a further count be held for the electorate of Narungga.”
McLay said that the count would take place on Friday, April 17 and that nominated scrutineers would be welcome to come.
She said that about 642 votes in South Australian seats were not counted and were found in the district of Stuart.
Most of these votes were in electorates with much larger margins, so they were unlikely to change the results. There is also an independent external review being set up.
One Nation candidate Thomas, who secured 37.6% of the primary vote in the 21 March election, knocked off incumbent Independent Fraser Ellis to clinch One Nation’s fourth lower house seat.
She reportedly called it another challenge but asserted her confidence. One Nation colleague Carlos Quaremba indicated there would be a One Nation request for an inquiry in parliament.
Liberal Party leader Ashton Hurn observed that the revelation was a cause for alarm, although she believed that the outcome would not be reversed.
“It’s a very fine line at the moment, although it is hard to imagine how this will affect the result when there are only such few votes left to be counted,” she stated, noting that they would consider contesting the result in the Court of Disputed Returns.
The acting premier and Attorney General Kyam Maher revealed that the government was working on terms of reference for the review of the electoral process.
McLay confirmed that if the Friday count altered the winner, the matter would be referred to the Court of Disputed Returns.
