Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will ask the Australian Electoral Commission to change its practice for counting votes in the referendum.
said on Wednesday that voters would be required by law to write “yes” or “no” in English on their ballot, rather than ticking or marking the box in some other way.All other responses will result in a judgment call being made about the voter’s intent and risk being counted as informal.
Mr Dutton said not accepting a cross would represent an unfair advantage to the Yes campaign. He and shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash will write to the Australian Electoral Commission asking for urgent clarification, and call for a sensible interpretation.“I mean, if a tick counts for Yes, then a cross should count for No,” he told radio 2GB on Thursday. “I just think it just stinks to be honest.
“If legislation is required to clarify this, then we’ve got plenty of time. Parliament’s back the week after next and we would support a sensible bill to clarify it, that the prime minister can draft up. You can’t have a situation where they’re trying to provide favour to one side in a democratic election.”
Overall enrolment has grown from 89.7 per cent in June 2010, and increased further from 97.1 per cent at the start of 2022.
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