The Australian Electoral Commission says it has improved its security and procedures to ensure that no votes go missing in Saturday’s re-run of the WA Senate election. The election is being held again after results from last September’s Senate election were declared void when about 1,400 ballots disappeared during a vote re-count. AEC spokesman Phil Diak said the commission had re-examined all of its security procedures in the wake of the vote loss and subsequent inquiries into it by former Australian Federal Police chief Mick Keelty and a joint parliamentary committee.
“There’s been an enhancement of our procedures with regard to the movement of ballots from the printer through to storage after the election,” he said.
“Ballot paper movements will be documented from every point in the production, through polling day, counting, until they’re in long-term storage.”
With a record number of candidates standing and influence over the federal balance of power at stake, the re-run of the election is a closely watched event.