Unauthorised opening of ballot boxes by polling staff still happening, three years after scare in 2010 election

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has been roundly criticised by the Commonwealth auditor general and parliamentary members during the first day of a parliamentary inquiry into the loss of ballot papers in the Western Australia Senate election last year.

The deputy electoral commissioner, Tom Rogers, and his senior staff were questioned for three hours on Thursday by the joint parliamentary committee on electoral matters over the loss of 1,370 ballot papers in the election. The result is still being considered in the courts.

A report by the former Australian federal police commissioner Mick Keelty criticised the AEC for failing to follow sufficiently rigorous procedures in conducting the ballot.

The auditor general, Ian McPhee, said the AEC had been warned about various issues with its vote-counting system. The latest audit of the organisation also raised concerns about the recruitment of suitable staff, breaking ballot box seals without witnesses and ballot papers reconciliation.

"There are signs their systems and procedures did need tightening up, clearly," McPhee said.

Rogers said measures had been taken to improve training methods and tighten security around ballot boxes following a major incident in 2010 in the electorates of Boothby and Flynn, where votes could not be included in the final count.

These measures included warnings, wire seals and the removal of all wire cutters. But Rogers admitted that in the 2013 election boxes were still opened without permission.

“Boothby and Flynn was a dramatic incident,” Rogers said. “We have taken a number of steps and have put in place a change in processes but it doesn’t mean the steps will prevent the re-occurrence.

“At the last election there was still unauthorised opening of ballot boxes by polling staff in spite of all of those measures put in place.”

The Liberal MP and chair Tony Smith told Rogers that in spite of a number of recommendations to the AEC over the years, including after the Boothby and Flynn incident, it remained unclear whether the commission could improve.

“There has been alarm bells ringing. In Boothby and Flynn you dodged a bullet because they were not close seats,” Smith said.

“You can understand the public concern and the committee’s concern about the capacity and capability of the the AEC to do what it now says it will do.”

Both the electoral commissioner, Ed Killesteyn, and Rogers have apologised on behalf of the organisation and have put in place new processes to track and secure ballot papers in the Griffith byelection on Saturday.