The Electoral Commission has taken the unusual step of publicly rejecting Peter Dutton’s complaint about referendum ballot papers.
The Australian Electoral Commission has rebuked Peter Dutton for making a “factually incorrect” complaint after the federal opposition leader complained that a tick on a Voice referendum ballot paper counting as a vote but a cross not counting would advantage the Yes camp.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Friday, the AEC said Australians were rightly proud of their electoral system and that while there was a high level of scrutiny and commentary on the looming referendum, “sometimes this commentary is immediate and based on emotion rather than the reality of the law which the AEC must administer”.
The commission enjoys a strong reputation internationally for being politically non-partisan, especially compared to commissions in countries like the United States, which are partisan and electoral malfeasance such as gerrymandering is a regular occurrence.The AEC noted in the 1999 referendum, just 0.86 per cent of votes cast were informal and of those informal votes, only a few related to people using either a tick or a cross rather than writing Yes or No on their ballot paper.
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