ACT: House of Reps Results

flatwhiteleft said :

The only point of difference I can find with PM is that I left the center early, before counting finished.

In that case, it might be up to each AEC official.

There can be some discrepancies… such as where the six metres from the polling booth starts. Some say the building, some say the door, some say a fence, etc.

I had an amazing official who couldn’t find my name. Lucky I have good eyesight.
The ..we.. was confusing, they were somehow looking for ..wee.. !

I scrutineered this year, and I can affirm most of what PM says.

There is a sense of almost camaraderie amongst the scrutineers, since we know which party we are in, and therefore we accept each other’s differences. There is no political debate (although during pre-polling, I’ve had some fundies from the Libs try to engage me on several moral fronts), since it’s boring and nonconstructive to the process.

The only heated moments come when we are trying to argue the toss on ballot interpretation, but frustration came more from the scruitineers trying to get the officials to count properly and efficiently (sorry, but there are some deadshits sometimes).

The only point of difference I can find with PM is that I left the center early, before counting finished.

But yes, when doing how-to-votes, you tend to get visited by your lovely candidates, and you also get an invitation to the afterparty (Libs = Servicemen’s Club, Labor = Press Club, Greens = Canberra Club), which always end up with drunk people yelling at the results on television.

It was frustrating to see how many people wasted their votes by simply not filling it out properly. Fair enough if they were exercising their right not to vote, but I think it shows how many people are not educated in basic civics when they cannot even read the instructions on the ballot paper, or follow a how to vote card.

In the booth I was at, we cheerfully dubbed all the Senate ballot papers with a drawn dick the “Cock and Balls Party”, and when counted up, they out-polled the independent John Glynn.

colourful sydney racing identity said :

I was really disappointed to have only three candidates on my HoR ballot paper. Come back Deadly Serious Party, your country needs you.

Think your confusing a Federal election with a local election. The weird and wonderful parties were a result of the D’Hondt voting system we used to have. It got changed to the Hare-Clark system a few years later.

damien haas said :

Im not sure about AEC regs otherwise I could share some fascinating insights into vote counting.

I can share some of my experiences at a high level… others will no doubt have differing experiences.

All scrutineers need to be nominated by a candidate on an official AEC form, and they need to be inside the polling booth before the closure of polls.

Scrutineers for proper politial parties normally send data back to their head office via mobile phone. All scruitneers are meant to remain locked in the room until the end of counting ie nobody goes in or out (although I escaped once!). Even if you know your candidate has lost, you need to stick around. Not sure why this is the rule, but I suspect it’s to ensure faith in the counting system and minimise allegations of tampering, although having said that it’s not mandatory for a candidate to have a scrutineer (but most do because they want the info early). I don’t know what would happen if no scrutineer was present.

The vast majority of scrutineers, like those handing out, do so with good humour. Quite non-confrontational. Perhaps this is because most scrutineers are the more experienced of the volunteers and accept there will always be differences of opinion etc. Any disagreements about the legitimacy of a vote are often resolved quite easily.

Only AEC staff are allowed to touch ballot papers. Sometimes it gets a bit crowded as each scrutineer tries to peer over the table. The type of voting system (ie depending on the level of government, and jurisdiction) will affect the intensity of the process; a simple cross in a box is much easier to decipher from a distance than, for example, differentiating a handwritten “1” from a “7”.

Most scrutineers have a chuckle at the informal votes’ wittisisms (or lack thereof in some cases), but any long-winded essays written on the back of papers aren’t normally read because we don’t have the time. Drawing a penis on a ballot paper has been done many times before – please work on some new material.

Most people handing out material outside the booths will share a laugh at things voters say, too, even if the comment is partisan and against the outcome you’re working towards.

Many volunteers handing out material at the booths are roped into it by candidates or other volunteers. Most proper organisations (eg parties plus that Get Up front) would have instructions or a training session, whih is why so many behave in a similar manner. Some don’t even vote for the person for whom they’re supporting, such as a person I met who handed out for Mike Kelly in Eden Monaro in the morning, then came across the border to hand out for the Greens in order to knock off Humphries.

A good candidate will be able to stop off at each booth the visit the volunteers, hand out snacks etc or at least have someone else able to do so on their behalf.

Finally, volunteers are often invited to their candidate’s/ party’s post-election drink/dinner/etc to watch the results come in.

damien haas said :

In the booth I was at it was 1898 above the line and 600 below the line. Im not sure about AEC regs otherwise I could share some fascinating insights into vote counting.

I’ve often wondered what it would be like to work at a polling booth. So I’d be keen for you to share any stories/experiences you can.

astrojax said :

i was shattered there was no sex party candidate for whom i could vote… 🙁

31 people voted for them at Queanbeyan high due to my awesome flier handing out.

switch said :

Any idea how many voted above vs. below the line in the Senate? Especially here in the ACT where it was pretty simple.

In the booth I was at it was 1898 above the line and 600 below the line. Im not sure about AEC regs otherwise I could share some fascinating insights into vote counting.

I was really disappointed to have only three candidates on my HoR ballot paper. Come back Deadly Serious Party, your country needs you.

i was shattered there was no sex party candidate for whom i could vote… 🙁