On Thursday 2 June 2022, Mr Cheng Fan was convicted and sentenced for a number of offences relating to a series of spam emails circulated during the 2020 Eden-Monaro by-election.
Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said that the case marks Australia’s first successful prosecution of a person for breaching electoral laws that prohibit misleading or deceiving Australians about the act of casting a vote.
“Yesterday’s sentencing of Mr Fan demonstrates that those who seek to undermine the integrity of Australia’s electoral system will be brought to account,” Mr Rogers said.
“A result like this draws a line in the sand as it provides precedent for any similar misbehaviour in the future.”
Mr Fan’s sentence included a penalty for breaching section 329 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 by distributing matter that the court considered was likely to mislead or deceive an elector in the relation to the casting of a vote.
“This result is also a credit to the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce, to which the AEC referred this matter in 2020,” Mr Rogers said.
“The work of the Taskforce is one more reason Australians can be confident in the integrity of our elections.”
Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce
The Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce is constituted by relevant agencies across Federal Government, working together to provide information and advice to the Electoral Commissioner on matters that may compromise the real or perceived integrity of the federal election.
The Taskforce was first in place for the federal by-elections held in 2018 and again for the 2019 and 2022 Federal Elections. It also operated during the 2020 Eden-Monaro and Groom by-elections.
What a rubbish headline. You are trying to bring down this country. What foreign masters do you serve?
“We need to go back to 1901” – really?
How about going back to the very right beginning when mankind decided to “take everything into their own hands” and imagined to be separated from the source of “LIFE”.
Some of our original elders of any tribe would have no problems with it. Unfortunately the descendants of Australian convicts cant bend their minds without a strict master and are constantly wishing for a “time machine” that brings back old traditional and very wrong habits.
That’s why the tribe of man constantly patches up all wrongs with more wrongs, just to be “save(d)” by the “opposition of mankind” and death.
The AEC is constantly patching up what is wrong with more wrong plus a bigger dose of control over the gullible that pretend to vote (for what?).
There is absolutely no link between genuine democracy and anything done by the AEC that measures up to democracy.
We need to go back to 1901.
If it’s gumint, I don’t trust it.
David Ashton: “We are mostly not going to vote multiple times”
So you’re a decent fellow and you’re not maybe a Getup fanatic? Go to some of the meetings of some of the fanatics and observe a little bit of reality.
david ashton,
you need a clearer pair of rose coloured glasses. The very worst thing that could happen to Australia is a republic. That would give them the absolute reason to chuck out the 1901 constitution and install their own. Do you seriously think that they are going to write YOUR rights into a new constitution? THINK AGAIN Common law? Not this side of the black stump. You consider that corruption is bad now, wait ’til it’s legal under their republican constitution, and there will be nowhere to get restitution, they’ll see to that. They didn’t take guns off of us to protect the public, they did it to protect themselves.
As to voter ID, why would they do that, the way it is now makes it easier to manipulate the outcome.
In light of what we know concerning violations of law in elections, will Tom Rogers also be apprehended & charged.? Perhaps his arrest along with others who had a hand in manipulating the 2022 Federal election results, or is Mr Cheng just a convenient stooge on display for the public to “see” that we have a vigilant “watchdog”..??
Most Aussies only vote because we have to. As long as our name is marked off that we voted then we are happy. We are mostly not going to vote multiple times and if those who did, the results most likely will be unaffected. The more pressing issues are changing the vote system to get rid of preferences. That will fix most things. Becoming a Republic is an interesting idea being put forth again by Albanese. Depending on how the law system worked, that we change from maritime law to common law and that the rule of law is looked at and that all laws in violation of our original constitution are chucked out, that is the better way forward. Allow law abiding citizens without any serious convictions to freely have guns again (criminals get them regardless) will fix any threat from outside our country (UN / WEF etc) by allowing us to defend ourselves again.
“those who seek to undermine the integrity of Australia’s electoral system will be brought to account” – doesn’t that mean that Tom Rogers should be locked up instantly and removed from “office” together with the tribe that are permanent residents in the well paying AEC as the complete farce of voting does Australia more harm than good. BUT as it goes the political correct bureaucrats seem to be the “only law” in a country that is constantly selling out their lawless citizens to foreign lunatics.
AEC should display the election writ at every polling station, you know it’s the one THEY are supposed to create in order that an election can be held which they’ve decided not to do. Basically, they’ve dropped their ball and made themselves subservient and connected at the hip of corporate government