To the editor
- It took over a hundred years of elections for the introduction of the secret ballot. Prior to that elections were held in public over periods of weeks and were anything but secret. Hogarth’s famous paintings are testimony to this.
- Now the Electoral Commission of NSW is (1) encouraging electronic voting? – already (2) voting is over longer periods (3) upper house counting is by computer (scrutineering impossible – I’ve tried) (4) there is no scrutineering of the opening of postal votes.
- Was Parliament or the Minister or the Premier consulted about this move? Voters certainly weren’t. The arrogance of the electoral commissions, federal and state, is a wake-up call for us all.
- At the last election in 2011there was a pilot trial of 50,000 persons voting electronically, mainly disabled – now it is being extended. The recent Annual Report of the Electoral Commission of NSW estimates that FIVE times as many, namely 250,000 persons, will vote electronically.
- Without effective scrutineering honest elections are not possible. Of course no scrutineering is possible for electronic voting!
Have we sunk so low?
From: Peter Brun
Captain Pipers Rd
Vaucluse 2030
This was in the Fraser coast council elections
Are you kidding no election is honest , For example in the last council elections to elect a mayor and councillors the polling booths ran out of ballot papers around midday . People were turning up to vote only to be told that their were no ballot papers available to allow them to vote for the councillors but they could vote for the position of mayor . Their names were then marked off the electrol roll and they went away , When complaints were lodged with the QEC they did nothing , The system has been corrupted and no electin can be classed as honest