How’s this for unfairness? The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), has struck back against claims that it is acting to undermine the fairness of the Voice referendum by its claim that a tick will likely be accepted as a formal vote for Yes on a Voice referendum ballot paper, but a cross will not be accepted for No. They responded that they are following “legislative requirements,” but there is as far as this voter can find, no justification presented in public for this. For the average reasonable person, the decision smacks of bias, producing more Yes votes. Fairness requires an impartial view where if a tick counts for Yes, then a cross should for No, or neither are allowed.
The Leader of the Opposition needs to go to court now to challenge this decision, and he should not delay, as October 14 is fast approaching.
All the more reason to vote No!
“The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has strongly rejected suggestions that it is undermining the impartiality and fairness of the voice to parliament referendum.
"Australian voters are rightly proud of their electoral system – one of the most transparent and robust voting systems in the world," the AEC statement said on Friday.
"As a result, there is an intense, and highly appropriate level of public interest in all aspects of that system, and associated commentary online and in mainstream media.
"Sometimes this commentary is immediate and based on emotion rather than the reality of the law which the AEC must administer."
The AEC said it remains "totally focused" on electoral integrity.
"The AEC completely and utterly rejects the suggestions by some that by transparently following the established, public and known legislative requirements we are undermining the impartiality and fairness of the referendum."
It said online commentary ignores the law surrounding savings provisions, legal advice regarding the use of ticks and crosses and the multi-referendum history of the application of the law and advice.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Thursday said he would write to the AEC over what he labelled a “completely outrageous” situation where a tick will likely be accepted as a formal vote for Yes on a voice referendum ballot paper but a cross will not be accepted for No.
“It's completely outrageous, to be honest. I mean, if a tick counts for Yes then a cross should count for No. It's as clear as that,” Mr Dutton told 2GB radio on Thursday.
“Otherwise it gives a very, very strong advantage to the Yes case. I just think Australians want a fair vote. They want to be informed. They want to have the detail before them.””
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/voice-voting-rules-confusion-stinks-dutton-20230824-p5dz41