CITY USE OF UNCODED SPARES UNDER SCRUTINY
THE City’s use of uncoded spare ballots is under close scrutiny after WAEC ended up in court following the botched Fremantle local government elections in 2023.
StreetWise revealed yesterday that hundreds of blank replacements called overs have been issued to the City to cover any voting shortfalls leading up to Saturday.
Neither WAEC or the City can say how many overs have been issued across four wards.
But StreetWise understands at least 500 overs have been issued to cover lost or misplaced ballots in the lead up to October 18.
The Greater Fremantle Community Business Association Inc has written to CEO Glen Dougal and WAEC acting electoral commissioner Dennis O’Reilly requesting clarification on the use and security of overs in this election.
“The integrity of local government elections relies not only on proper conduct but also on the perception of transparency and accountability.”
The City used 158 of 400 overs across four wards in 2023, of which 84 were used in coastal ward where Cr Jemima Williamson-Wong defeated Cr Marija Vujcic by 71 first-preference votes.
The Local Government Elected Members Association warned WAEC against their fraudulent use, particularly in close elections: “Do all LGs have their overs delivered? How many? Are they secure?”
StreetWise first revealed WA councils’ use of overs largely unknown even by local government advocates after WAEC confirmed that the City used hundreds of spares in 2021 (mayoral election) and disputed 2023 (www.streetwisemedia.com.au/election-extras-blanks-overs-but-is-it-cricket).
StreetWise asked WAEC last month how many overs had been issued to the City in 2025 (broken down into each ward) and/or how many the City requested. No answer yet, but the numbers will be recorded in due course.
StreetWise last year also applied under Freedom of Information to access WAEC documents detailing the number of overs used in 2021 and 2023.
WAEC deputy electoral commissioner Courtney Barron declined access to the documents on July 5, 2024.
However, on September 22 this year, WAEC Legislation Coordinator Louis Gargan told StreetWise: “The Office of the Information Commissioner asked Ms Barron to review this decision. As Ms Barron is no longer employed at WAEC, I asked the Election Operations Team if they could look into this matter.”
However, WAEC documents released to StreetWise raise more questions than answers. They also do not match those cited by StreetWise since the results of the 2023 election were challenged last year.
Ms Barron told StreetWise following its request for internal review: “Replacement election packages are ‘blanks’ and ‘overs’ combined.”
She said a replacement package consists of local government elector declaration envelopes (coded) that have no elector name or election information printed on them and a reply paid envelope, how-to-vote brochure and ballot paper, together referred to as ‘overs’ (uncoded).
Ms Barron could not explain how WAEC distinguished between blanks and overs when WAEC’s published post-election reports not disclosed by Ms Barron lists them separately.
When asked for documents identifying voters issued spares or blanks, Ms Barron said, “the personal information of electors is not released by the WAEC in order to ensure the integrity of the electoral process”.
2023
WAEC in 2023 issued 400 spare ballots (overs) to the City of Fremantle, 100 each for four new wards including central and coastal where more than 12,000 voters received incorrect ballot papers.
The use of these overs was raised in the Court of Disputed Returns this year when (mostly because the appellants’ lawyers didn’t present a case) they were given little weight by the Magistrate who was trying to understand how WAEC stuffed up the mail out to thousands of central and coastal ward voters.
The balance of power in coastal ward fell to Wong 955. Vujcic 884.
The WAEC reported the City used 158 of the 400 spares across four wards, 84 in coastal; 26 in central; 30 in north; and 18 in east.
Additionally, 211 voter packages were declared duds; 122 rejected because they were not signed and 71 were missing (18 ‘Other’ unexplained). Late returns 153 and unclaimed mail packages 770.
2021
WAEC overs used by the City in 2021 (mayoral election) do not match those it disclosed by the State to the Court of Disputed Returns during the disputed Fremantle in 2023.
Streetwise applied under FOI to access WAEC documents detailing the use of overs in 2021 and 2023. At the same time, WAEC’s media team provided details about why and how they were used in WA.
WAEC told StreetWise that 350 spares were printed for Fremantle in 2021, 50 each for four wards and 75 each for two wards. WAEC documents show 341 spares were issued across the former six wards.
The documents also show the City issued 363 replacement and 16 provisional votes and rejected 106 ballot declarations as they were not signed and 159 went missing. Late returns 177 and unclaimed mail packages 585.
However, WAEC documents disclosed to the court are inconsistent with these figures. They show WAEC in 2021 issued 300 overs of which the City used 299, the highest of any council in WA and all of them in east ward in which oddly Cr Jenny Archibald was elected unopposed. The discrepancy remains unexplained.
For this reason, StreetWise applied for external review of WAEC’s decision to deny access. It argued the documents were in the public interest given the number of spares used in each election, particularly in central (formerly city) and coastal (south) wards.
According to WAEC’s 2021 post-election report, 4028 replacement and 49 provisional voting packages were issued to WA councils.
WAEC printed more overs in 2023 (7000) than 2021 as the number of local government election districts holding postal elections increased from 92 to 115 in 2023.
Additional stories at www.streetwisemedia.com.au.
