There have been 1375 ballot papers lost for the upper house election in Australia’s largest state of Western Australia, which has led the Australian Electoral Commissioner (AEC) Ed Killesteyn to say “We’re left with a nagging and almost irreconcilable doubt about the outcome of the West Australian Senate election”.
A new vote for the WA senate is a near certainty following the loss of the votes.
- The AEC is obligated to declare a result, which will be done today. Once the result is declared it is open to legal challenge.
- 1375 ballot papers have been lost. The votes were verified during the initial count but could not be located for the recount
- A legal challenge will go to the High Court
- It is very likely they will order a fresh vote for the upper house in Western Australia
The fresh vote will be seen as an early judgement on the new Australian government, elected back in early September.
There’s going to be more to come on this.
