The Australian Electoral Commission is trying to determine how many Queensland voters were accidentally given ballot papers for the NSW Senate contest. A voter in the far north Queensland tourist town of Port Douglas says he and other voters were given the wrong ballot papers at a pre-polling booth. The man says he realised the mistake about an hour after he voted, and returned to the booth to alert officials. The AEC says it’s unsure how many Queensland voters were given the wrong ballot papers. An investigation into the incident, which happened in the electorate of Leichhardt, is under way.
“It probably will come down to an official error by the officer who handed the voter the ballot paper,” Anne Bright, from the AEC, told 612 ABC Brisbane on Friday.
“But the Senate election is for the whole state, therefore we are looking at some 2.8 million people who have been registered to vote at this election and one would not have an effect.”
The voter said he believed he’d been given an incorrect how-to-vote card when it didn’t match up with the ballot paper he was handed.
Full Article: Queensland ballot paper mix up under investigation.