ABC election analyst Antony Green says the outcome of the Senate vote in Western Australia would have come down to a solitary vote. The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) today released the party-by-party tally of votes counted in the days after the election. Earlier this week the AEC declared the results of the poll despite admitting that it had misplaced 1,375 ballot papers in the recount. The tally sheets released today include the lost votes. Green says if the missing votes were to be included in the recount, the Palmer United Party (PUP) and Labor would have won the final two Senate spots and not the Greens and the Australian Sports Party. “If these votes could be included in the count, then they would produce the closest Senate election result in Australian history with a gap of just a single vote determining the final two Senate seats,” Green wrote in his election blog.
“On the first count, the Shooters and Fishers Party led the Australian Christians by a critical 14 votes, 23,515 to 23,501. This excluded the Australian Christians and resulted in the election of the PUP’s Dio Wang and Labor’s Louise Pratt to the final two seats.
“On the recount which was conducted minus the missing votes, the Australian Christians now lead at the crucial count by 12 votes … and the last two seats being won by Wayne Dropulich of the Australian Sports Party and Scott Ludlam of the Greens.”
Green says the missing votes are ticket votes, leaving no doubt where the preferences of each would go.
Full Article: Antony Green says WA Senate result comes down to just one vote – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).