There are few processes as critical to the smooth running of a society than the electoral process. It’s a procedure in which we must all trust. So it’s surprising that the current Senate count process was found by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) to have several deficiencies which were not disclosed at the time of the election. ANAO identified several anomalies in the running of the 2016 Senate election which, although not necessarily casting doubt on the correctness of who was elected, are cause for concern.
… One of the key challenges when running an election is to not lose any ballot papers. This may sound simple but when you are dealing with more than 45 million ballot papers, it is not easy.
One of the undertakings the AEC made to the electorate, as a result of the lost ballots at WA Senate election in 2013, was to account for ALL ballot papers from the time they are printed, until their statutorily authorised destruction.
The auditor found that “the AEC is not currently in a position to report that it has achieved its performance target of 100 per cent of ballot papers being accounted for”.
Full Article: A new type of scrutineer needed for Senate elections – CIO.