Australia: Leadership in Doubt as Election Too Close to Call | The New York Times

Australians awoke Sunday to a government plagued in uncertainty after a stunningly close national election failed to deliver a clear victor, raising the prospect of a hung parliament. The gamble by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to call a rare early election may have failed, with his conservative Liberal Party-led coalition on track to lose a swathe of seats in the House of Representatives — and potentially control of the country. One day after the election, the race remained too close to call, with mail-in ballots and early votes yet to be counted. Still, Turnbull sounded a confident tone during a speech to supporters early Sunday morning. “Based on the advice I have from the party officials, we can have every confidence that we will form a coalition majority government in the next parliament,” Turnbull said.

Australia: From Outback to Antarctica, Australian votes roll in | AFP

From the harsh desert Outback to the frozen reaches of Antarctica, Australians at remote locations have been casting their votes ahead of tomorrow’s national election. Close to 2.2 million ballot papers had been handed in at pre-polling centres by mid-week, with small teams travelling across the vast country to ensure everyone eligible can vote. On Antarctica, expeditioners at Australia’s Davis Station voted on the sea ice in front of the research station, where temperatures are around minus 20 degrees Celsius. “I am glad that I can still have my say whilst being so far away from it all,” said Aaron Stanley, who works for the bureau of meteorology at Davis but was tasked with helping oversee the vote. “I’ve voted while on holiday in Malta before, but this is totally going to top the best voting location.”

Australia: Young voters driving rise in intentional informal ballots, research shows | ABC

A rise in the number of people deliberately voting informally is likely being driven by the young, many of whom feel disaffected with the mainstream political process, new research suggests. A paper by University of Adelaide researchers, soon to be published in the Australian Journal of Political Science, charted the rise of informal voting at recent elections and cross-referenced those trends with other data. Lead author, politics professor Lisa Hill, said the focus was on the proportion of voters who deliberately handed in blank or defaced ballots, as opposed to those that had made mistakes filling the papers out.

Australia: Election explainer: why can’t Australians vote online? | The Conversation

In 2015, more than 280,000 votes were received in the New South Wales election from a personal computer or mobile phone. This was the largest-ever binding election to use online voting. But federally, the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters has ruled out allowing Australians to cast their vote online, arguing it risks “catastrophically compromising our electoral integrity”. Despite years of research, nobody knows how to provide evidence of an accurate result while keeping individual online votes private. Internet voting is similar to online banking, except you’re not sent a receipt saying “this is how you voted” because then you could be coerced or bribed. Your vote should be private, even from the electoral commission.

Australia: Let us test voting code, say academics | Associated Press

Doubts about the accuracy of the Senate vote count remain until the Australian Electoral Commission agrees to publicly release the computer code it uses. That’s the view of the Australian Greens and academics who have studied vote-counting software errors. University of Melbourne researchers recomputed the NSW local government election results from 2012, finding two errors in counting – one of which showed a candidate’s chances of election significantly being reduced. The NSW Electoral Commission on Tuesday announced it had corrected the software – originally bought from the AEC – following the study by researchers Andrew Conway and Vanessa Teague. But it was only because the NSWEC published its full preference data and coding that the errors were identified.

Australia: Buggy vote-counting software borks Australian election | The Register

The body overseeing elections in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has acknowledged researchers’ claims of a bug in the software it uses to count votes. The NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC) has corrected an error detected and described by researchers Andrew Conway and Vanessa Teague, and verified by computer science academics from the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University. The bug relates to extrapolation of voting patterns, a technique used in some Australian jurisdictions where a Single Transferable Vote (STV) system is used. Voters’ second preference candidate can secure a vote if the first preference has already been elected to a chamber using proportional representation.

Australia: Federal election 2016: Number six above the line. Confused? | The Australian

Chaos has descended upon the ­nation’s polling booths, with ­voters struggling to understand changes to above-the-line voting on the Senate voting paper. New Senate voting rules, introduced in March as a way to stymie the smaller parties, mean that ­voters must number at least six boxes above the line on the Senate ballot paper for their vote to count. However, as the Australian Electoral Commission admitted yesterday, voters who vote 1 above the line will also have their vote counted, provided there is nothing else wrong with the ballot paper. Confusion has been heightened by a new online tool, created by the AEC, which allows voters to “practise’’ their Senate vote ahead of polling day.

Australia: Electoral commission grapples with counting votes in new Senate system | Brisbane Times

The Australian Electoral Commission has still not “finalised” its plan for counting more than 12 million Senate ballots, with a little more than three weeks to polling day. The commission looks likely to turn to scanning machines for the first time to help it cope with a counting task massively expanded by the government’s changes to upper house voting. But the AEC insists it will have all the votes and preferences finalised by the mandated August 8 deadline. The commission is confronted with the task of entering up to 12 million ballots onto its system, up from about 500,000 under the old voting rules, and one electoral expert says it is unsurprising the AEC is battling to cope after the changes were rushed through by the government.

Australia: NSW Electoral Commission investigates allegations of Labor vote-rigging | Sydney Morning Herald

Allegations that Labor party officials misused electoral roll details to rig a community preselection are being investigated by the NSW Electoral Commission. Possible misuse of electoral roll information is proving to be a headache for the party during the run up the July Federal election with former party boss Jamie Clements last month charged by the NSW Electoral Commission for disclosing protected information to his factional ally, the disgraced union boss Derrick Belan. The new investigation was prompted by Fairfax Media revelations that Labor’s community preselection for the state seat of Ballina might have involved vote rigging. A senior figure from Labor’s head office in Sussex Street recently informed Fairfax Media that a party official had used a database called “Campaign Central”, which contains detailed information on voters including electoral roll details, to influence the outcome of a preselection ballot.

Australia: Norfolk Islanders to have federal and NSW laws but no vote in state election | The Guardian

Norfolk Islanders will not have the right to vote in Australian state elections, despite the island’s legislation being abolished and replaced by federal and New South Wales laws. From July, the NSW government will deliver all state-level services, such as health and education. Islanders will also fall under the federal Medicare system and be eligible for social benefits, including the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Australia’s tax and immigration systems will also apply. The island lost its right to self-govern last May when the commonwealth abolished its autonomy, and the island has been in a transition period ever since as it prepares to come under Australian laws. While islanders will have the right to vote in the federal election and will be allocated to the electorate of Canberra, the NSW Legislative Council this week passed legislation about the application of services to Norfolk Islanders. Despite this, they will not have a right to vote in state elections as part of the legislation.

Australia: Why do we have pencils and not pens at polling booths? | ABC

You wouldn’t use a pencil to fill in a passport application form. You almost certainly wouldn’t sign a contract with one. So why do we still use pencils for the most important civic duty, voting? That question has inspired one curious Australian, who submitted it to Curious Campaign. Australians have been using pencils to vote since well before Hungarian László Bíró popularised the ballpoint pen in the 1930s. As early as 1902, the Electoral Act required the provision of pencils in voting booths. “Polling booths shall have separate voting compartments, constructed so as to screen the voters from observation while they are marking their ballot papers, and each voting compartment shall be furnished with a pencil for the use of voters.” That precise wording remains in the law to this day. But while the act instructs the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to provide pencils, it doesn’t instruct voters to use them. “People can bring and use a pen if they wish to do so,” Electoral Commission spokesman Evan Ekin-Smith said.

Australia: Fear of voter fraud is no excuse for restricting enrolment | The Guardian

The electoral roll closes at 8pm on Monday. Potential voters who have failed to enrol by then will not be able to vote on 2 July. As of March, the Australian Electoral Commission estimated that more than 900,000 people were “missing” from the roll – 6% of the eligible voting population. There are particularly large numbers of young voters missing from the rolls. While the AEC and other groups make a big effort to encourage young people to enrol, the rolls are closing long before most voters will engage with the election. It’s not surprising that many voters, particularly those voting for the first time, do not realise they need to enrol long befor polling day. At most elections, rolls close about four weeks before election day. This year’s longer campaign has stretched this period to six weeks.

Australia: Electoral Commission sends electoral roll data of Victorian voters to the wrong people | ABC

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has mailed private information of Victorian residents to the wrong postal addresses, in a series of privacy breaches that raises questions about the security of voter details on the electoral roll. The privacy breaches exposed the date of birth, email address, driver’s licence number, gender, previous home addresses, country of birth and mobile numbers for electorates, including those held by Environment Minister Greg Hunt and Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester. ABC’s 7.30 understands the privacy of at least seven residents has been breached by the AEC.

Australia: High court rejects Bob Day appeal and finds Senate voting changes are legal | The Guardian

The high court has unanimously rejected Senator Bob Day’s challenge of Senate voting changes, finding they do not infringe the constitution. The challenge was heard on 2 May and disposed of on Friday, clearing the way for the 2 July election using the new voting system. In a joint judgment, the justices noted that many of Day’s arguments challenged above the line and below the line voting, which had existed since 1983. They said the challenge did not show voters were disenfranchised and “was in truth an argument about the consequences of elector choice” in harming minor parties. The Senate voting changes require voters to vote one to six above the line, or number one to 12 preferences below the line. However, if a voter simply votes one above the line, the vote will still be valid. The vote will be exhausted if candidates in that column are eliminated from the count.

Australia: Voters urged to update enrolment details as 950,000 missing from electoral roll, AEC says | ABC

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has urged voters to check their enrolment details as the federal election campaign gets underway. The electoral rolls will close on May 23, ahead of a July 2 poll. About 15.5 million people are eligible to vote in the upcoming election, but 950,000 people are missing from the electoral roll. AEC spokesman Phil Diak said the number of young people who were yet to register was a concern. “In round terms, about one in two 18-year-olds and one in four 19-year-olds are not on the roll, so it’s very important that they take action now, and you can do this by going to the AEC’s website and you can enrol conveniently on a PC, smartphone or tablet,” he said.

Australia: Prime Minister Makes July 2 Election Official | ABC

Australia’s prime minister on Sunday officially called a July 2 election and put economic management at the forefront of his campaign to win a second three-year term for his conservative coalition during an era of extraordinary volatility in the country’s politics. Kicking off a two-month election campaign, Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull said a center-left Labor Party win would prevent the Australian economy diversifying from a mining industry that had been hit hard by the Chinese slowdown and the associated falls in the prices of iron ore and coal, Australia’s most lucrative exports.

Australia: High Court hears Bob Day’s constitutional challenge to senate voting reforms | Sydney Morning Herald

Senator Bob Day says he remains confident in his high-stakes challenge to new Senate voting laws, as the High Court begins deliberations on a case that could disrupt the Turnbull government’s plans for a July election. The Family First senator is arguing the new laws, passed after a marathon sitting of parliament in March, are unconstitutional, and will effectively disenfranchise millions of voters who don’t want to support major parties. The new voting system threatens to wipe out micro-parties, like Senator Day’s, which have traditionally relied on preferences to get them into the upper house, despite attracting only a fraction of the primary vote. The High Court challenge wrapped up just before midday on Tuesday, and the judges are expected to hand down a decision in coming weeks. The case comes at a critical time. If Senator Day manages to successfully argue new system is unconstitutional, it could jeopardise Malcolm Turnbull’s plans for a July 2 election.

Australia: Senate voting reforms unconstitutional, Bob Day’s lawyers tell High Court | ABC

Lawyers for South Australian senator Bob Day have told the High Court new Senate voting reforms are “unconstitutional”. The new laws were set up to prevent elaborate preference deals, which have helped micro party and independent senators get elected. The controversial laws were passed with the help of senator Nick Xenophon and the Greens after a 28-hour session of Parliament in March. Senator Day is challenging the laws in the High Court.

Australia: Compulsory preferential voting returns to Queensland as Parliament passes bill for more MPs | ABC

Major voting changes have been passed in Queensland, with Parliament approving four more MPs and a return to compulsory preferential voting. It will now be compulsory to number every square on the ballot box, a move which would have given Labor an extra eight seats and a majority government in last year’s election. In what was a see-saw battle for control of the legislative agenda, Labor managed to force through an amendment to a Liberal National Party (LNP) bill. The LNP’s Electoral (Improving Representation) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill to increase the number of seats from 89 to 93 was set to pass with crossbench support. But in a surprise move, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath proposed an amendment to also include the reintroduction of compulsory preferential voting. Katter’s Australian Party and independent MPs supported the bill to number all boxes.

Australia: Australia Moves Toward a New Election | Wall Street Journal

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to curb labor unions’ power, in a defeat set to trigger new elections just seven months after he took office. Mr. Turnbull had promised to invoke an election if lawmakers didn’t pass the bill, and he is now expected to formalize the threat after unveiling the national budget next month. Uncertainty over the election outcome and a potential shift in economic policy has already unsettled some of Australia’s biggest companies. Monday’s developments set in motion a risky path to an unusual election known as a double dissolution, which puts all seats in both legislative chambers to a vote. In a normal election, the lower house and just half the senate are chosen. The last such election—also aimed as resolving legislative deadlocks—was in 1987. “They’ve loaded the gun,” said Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce after the Senate vote. “We’ve always been pretty straight and we’ve always said we’d go to a double dissolution if it didn’t pass. It hasn’t passed.”

Australia: Double dissolution election likely as Parliament set to examine two key bills, Brandis says | ABC

Federal Attorney-General George Brandis has indicated it is highly likely Australia will head to a double dissolution election on July 2, saying he does not expect the Senate to pass two key pieces of Government legislation. Senator Xenophon, along with other crossbenchers, want a number of amendments to the ABCC Bill Parliament has been recalled early for an extraordinary sitting to debate the Coalition’s bill to reintroduce the construction watchdog, the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), and the Registered Organisations bill, which aims to treat union leaders like company directors.

Australia: High court challenge to Senate voting reforms set for budget week | The Guardian

Family First senator Bob Day has cleared the first hurdle in his challenge to Senate voting reforms after the chief justice of the high court referred the case to the full bench, for hearing during the budget week. Speaking outside the court on Friday, Day said the orders were issued by chief justice Robert French for the full bench to hear the case on 2 and 3 May – as Malcolm Turnbull brings down his first budget and his last before the next election. Day immediately claimed the development as a win for voters’ rights although constitutional lawyers have been sceptical about the merits of the case. “I have always believed there’s merit but clearly the chief justice believes those also otherwise we wouldn’t be on this trajectory,” Day said. “I think today was a really important win in the battle for voters’ rights and let’s be clear what happened last month in the parliament, that voters’ rights were taken away.”

Australia: Queensland referendum: Vote on four-year parliamentary terms passes | ABC

A referendum on whether to have four-year fixed parliamentary terms in Queensland has officially passed, with the state’s Electoral Commission (ECQ) declaring the vote. Of the 80 per cent of ballots counted, 51 per cent of voters favoured the change compared to 46 per cent who opposed it. The informal vote for the March 19 poll was 3 per cent. Legislation will be introduced to Queensland Parliament that will change the current three-year variable terms to a fixed date, the last Saturday of October, every four years.

Australia: Don’t bet yet on a double-dissolution election | Sydney Morning Herald

Don’t pay a deposit on renting a BBQ for your July 2 election day fund-raising sausage sizzle just yet. Listening to comments from some of the independents in the Senate, one might think the whole early sitting is all about them, getting rid of them if they don’t support the government’s union clean-up legislation. Obviously these independents seek to cast themselves as victims, as the badgered and the blackmailed. That’s not how I see it. The people of Australia elected this government. Governments can’t be dictators for three years; the Senate is there as a house of review. The increased size of the House of Representatives and thus of the Senate makes the likelihood of either major party having control of the upper house remote (because the proportion of votes, or quota, needed to get elected is reduced and it is therefore easier for minor candidates to win a spot). Thus there is a creative tension between the two houses. Any opposition can use the independents to cause havoc.

Australia: Lawyers criticise ‘hopeless’ High Court challenge to new Senate voting laws | ABC

Lawyers for the Commonwealth have labelled arguments for a High Court challenge to new Senate voting laws as “hopeless”. Family First senator Bob Day is fighting the reforms, which do away with group voting in the Upper House and make it more difficult for micro-parties to be elected. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull argued the legislation — under which voters will be encouraged to vote for at least six potential senators above the line — was “good for democracy”. But Senator Day said the Government was wrong to say the laws put power back into the hands of voters.

Australia: Electronic ballot-scanning trial holds up council election results across Queensland | ABC

The electronic ballot-scanning pilot launched in five councils during the weekend’s local government election in Queensland has left some councillors clueless about their future. The technology that runs first-past-the-post ballot papers through a scanner, takes a photo, and then recognises the numeral, has caused extensive delays in the Noosa, Mackay, Toowoomba, Livingstone and Gladstone council regions. Less than 8 per cent of the vote has been counted in Noosa, and less than 4 per cent in Toowoomba, Gladstone and Mackay, while not a single vote has been declared for councillors in Livingstone. Electoral Commission Queensland (ECQ) assistant commissioner Dermot Tiernan said the delays in Noosa had been caused by sensitivity in the technology.

Australia: Paving way for early election, Australia passes voting reforms | Reuters

Australia’s Senate on Friday passed voting reforms after a marathon session lasting over 28 hours, clearing the way for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to dissolve both houses of parliament and call an early election to end a hostile Senate. Independent and minor party senators elected at the last election in 2013 have stalled key aspects of the government’s agenda, including changes that would make higher education and health care more expensive and limit access to welfare. The Senate voting reforms would make it harder for smaller parties to enter parliament through vote sharing deals. Turnbull is now seen as likely to opt for a rare double dissolution election, which sees both houses of parliament face voters, arguing that it will clear the Senate of obstructionists and allow long-stalled economic reforms.

Australia: Coalition ditches building watchdog trigger for double-dissolution election | The Guardian

The Turnbull government appears to have given up its most plausible double-dissolution trigger, with legislation establishing the new building industry watchdog left off the list of bills it is insisting be passed in the final Senate sitting week before the May budget. The legislation to re-establish the Building and Construction Commission has been widely assumed to be the government’s preferred trigger for a double dissolution, building on findings and allegations about construction unions raised during the Heydon royal commission. The employment minister, Michaelia Cash, has held several meetings this week with the Senate crossbench about the building watchdog bill, but it has appeared unlikely to pass – particularly since the government angered the crossbenchers with the Senate voting changes that will make it extremely difficult for them to be re-elected.

Australia: Election experts predict Senate changes will encounter High Court challenge | Sydney Morning Herald

Senate voting changes, if passed in their current form, are almost certain to incur a High Court challenge, polling experts have warned. Veteran psephologist Malcolm Mackerras said the voting changes – which would clear the way for a snap double-dissolution election likely to clean out the current crossbench – stemmed from a “filthy deal” between the Greens and the Liberal Party, “led by the unelected, dud Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull”. Greens senator Lee Rhiannon questions Glenn Druery when he appeared before the Senate voting reform committee on Tuesday. Photo: Andrew Meares Mr Mackerras faced a truncated hearing of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters along with fellow psephologist Antony Green, the ABC election expert, constitutional expert Professor George Williams and University of Tasmania academic Dr Kevin Bonham.