Election extras, blanks & overs – but is it cricket?

SPECIAL REPORT: The City of Fremantle used hundreds of uncoded ‘spare’ ballot papers to influence the balance of power in the 2021 and disputed 2023 local government elections.
StreetWise Media can report the WA Electoral Commission last year issued the City 400 spare ballots, 100 each for its four new wards including central and coastal where more than 12,000 voters received the wrong ballot papers now at the centre of court proceedings to have the election result declared invalid.
The balance of power in coastal, formerly south ward, fell to Labor-backed Cr Jemima Williamson-Wong who defeated independent councillor Marija Vujcic by 71 first-preference votes (Wong 955/Vujcic 884).
WAEC said the City used 158 of the 400 spares, but could not say how many were used in each ward including central and coastal wards. The numbers are relevant if most were used in coastal.
StreetWise also understands WAEC on election night ran out of spares for some councils in WA, including Fremantle.
In the 2021 mayoral election, WAEC said 350 spares, also known as ‘overs’, were printed for Fremantle, 50 each for four wards and 75 each for two wards, as shown in the table it provided below. However, it could not say how many were used in each ward.
StreetWise understands 300 spares were printed in 2021 (not 350), of which the City used 299, the highest of any council in WA, and all in just one of its then six wards (east) in which oddly current deputy mayor Jenny Archibald was elected unopposed.
When asked how many overs were used in 2021, WAEC in a follow-up email said 357, or seven more than shown in the table. Were extra spares printed for Fremantle? And how does WAEC keep tabs on them?
To better understand how spares are used by local governments in WA, StreetWise applied to the WAEC under Freedom of Information to access public documents related to spare ballot papers used by WA councils, including Fremantle, in the 2021 and 2023 elections.
Local government experts and political sources contacted by StreetWise said they had never heard of overs and raised serious concerns over their potential misuse by local governments including Fremantle.
Last month, WAEC’s FOI officer denied StreetWise access to the documents because, “issues surrounding the Fremantle local government elections are now before the Court of Disputed Returns”. The next court appearance by the parties including WAEC, Wong and Vujcic is scheduled for June 28.
Some of the documents requested include emails, reports and notes of meetings and briefings between WAEC, the City and State Government over the ballot mix-up in central and coastal wards.
StreetWise only received the FOI decision last week because of postal delays and, given the 30-day time limit, applied yesterday to the WAEC deputy electoral commissioner to have the decision internally reviewed on two specific grounds.
That the ‘issues’ currently before the Court of Disputed Returns do not apply to other WA councils allocated spares in 2023 nor WA councils, including Fremantle, allocated spares in 2021.
WAEC deputy electoral commissioner said yesterday she would conduct the internal review, her decision due in 15 days, after which StreetWise reserves the right to apply for external review by the WA Office of the Information Commissioner.

Can you spare an ‘over’?

SPARES are additional election packages, also called ‘overs’, which WA councils may need when electors have either lost their election packages or did not receive them. The packages are unique for each ward and contain a ballot paper(s), information brochure and reply paid envelope.
WAEC said it printed more overs in 2023 (7000) than 2021 as the number of local government election districts holding postal elections increased from 92 to 115 in 2023.
In 2021, approximately 1700 of 5025 overs printed by WAEC were used by WA councils, including the 350 it says were printed for Fremantle’s then six wards.
WAEC told StreetWise the number of spares needed at election time differed between local governments, “but is generally based on the overall number of electors for the local government, the number of replacement packages issued at the most recent election and whether the election includes a mayoral election”.
It said it also prints and issues blank ballot papers, which are replacement declaration envelopes with a barcode and number unique to each local government. Spares do not have a barcode and do not include the declaration envelope.
It said of 300 blanks printed for Fremantle in 2023, 158 were issued as replacements across four wards and of 350 printed in 2021, 341 were issued across the former six wards. It did not break down how many blanks were used in each ward for either year.
“The original barcode number allocated to the elector is cancelled and the new barcode number on the replacement declaration is allocated to that elector,” WAEC’s ‘media team’ explained.
Any elector requesting a replacement package must file a form 15 Application for Replacement Voting Papers. These forms are collected by the returning officer and once the result is declared, “it is stored by the local government CEO for four years. Accessing these materials is strongly controlled by legislative provisions and they are destroyed after a four year period, in accordance with regulations”.
It said: “The elector’s original election package (mailed out to them) is cancelled and cannot then be returned and included in the count. In its place the replacement package details are connected through the system to that elector using the barcode numbers included on the ‘blank’ ensuring that the elector is recorded as having voted and their package can be processed to be included in the count.”
It added: “Overs are additional election packages that do not include the declaration envelope. WAEC staff can use ‘overs’ as replacement packages for electors who may have lost or say they have not received their election package. They can also be used for a provisional vote where someone claims an entitlement to enrolment but cannot be located on the electoral roll.”
Provisional voting papers are issued when, “someone claims an entitlement to enrolment, perhaps because they are a property owner in the area or because they’ve previously voted in local elections in the same area and believe they should be on the roll, however they cannot be located on the roll”.
A person who claims to be an elector whose name was omitted from the electoral roll in error may apply to be given postal voting papers using a form 16 Provisional Voter’s Declaration. A provisional vote will only be issued where the omission or roll production error is proven.
According to WAEC’s 2021 post-election report (the 2023 report is not yet available), 4028 replacement and 49 provisional voting packages were issued to WA councils. Fremantle recorded 363 replacements and 16 provisional votes, the highest of any council.
Additionally, 265 voter packages were rejected by the City because 106 were not signed and 159 declarations were missing. No figures are available for 2023 unless WAEC releases the information under FOI.
Additional election stories at www.streetwisemedia.com.au.