One Nation seat in doubt after stash of new votes discovered
The result in one of South Australia’s most marginal seats held by a “full-time mum” and One Nation member could change after a further count was announced.
One Nation is facing a further count in the seat of Narungga after the Electoral Commission of South Australia said there were ballot papers discovered that were not counted in the initial count or recount.
ECSA said it had discovered 77 absent ordinary ballot papers and four declaration ballot papers for the district of Narungga that were returned from the district of Stuart.
An earlier recount in Narungga had declared One Nation’s Chantelle Thomas as the winning candidate with a razor-tight margin of 58 votes from the Liberal Party’s Tania Stock.
Thomas told reporters it was “another hurdle” at a press conference flanked by successful One Nation candidates Carlos Quaremba, Rebecca Hewitt, Robert Roylance, David Paton and Jason Virgo. Quaremba flagging a One Nation call for a parliamentary inquiry.
“This is very disappointing for my community in Narungga. Everyone in Narungga has already spoken. They wanted me as their strong, loud voice, and now it makes us question the integrity of the South Australian elections,” Thomas said.
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Thomas has been surrounded by controversy over recent days after media referred to her owning a beauty business on the Yorke Peninsula and that she may not have understood that she would be required to attend state parliament for sitting weeks in Adelaide.
“I do not own a beauty salon or business and I knew exactly what I signed up for when door-knocking every day for eight hours a day,” Thomas posted on Facebook.
She also said in a video that “I do not own a business, I worked as a makeup artist 12 months ago, I have been a Mum full time and the reason I got into politics was for my children’s future and for my electorate”.
“We have fake news out there and we have this woke agenda”, she added, saying that was another reason why she had entered politics for One Nation.
The electoral commission made its announcement this morning, with acting commissioner Leah McLay saying if the count delivers a new result it would need to be referred to the court of disputed returns.
“Following the discovery of votes that have not been counted, I have secured the unopened ballot papers and have ordered a further count for the district of Narungga,” McLay said.
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“I have informed all candidates and will oversee the count on Friday, April 17, and nominated scrutineers are invited to attend.
McLay said there were about 642 votes across South Australian seats that went uncounted and were discovered from the district of Stuart but “no other irregularities have been identified”.
“There were ballots in those boxes for other districts, but in small numbers, in districts with significantly larger margins,” McLay said.
She said the electoral commission was investigating and expected there would be an independent, external review.
Acting Premier and Attorney General Kyam Maher said the government was “finalising terms of reference” for an independent review to address how the election was conducted.
The nail-biter seat of Narungga covers rural Yorke Peninsula between Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent and was the last to be called in the election.
It was previously held by Fraser Ellis, an independent who had been dis-endorsed by the Liberal party after being charged with misusing parliamentary funds.
Thomas picked up 37.6 per cent of the primary vote in the State Election held on March 21, according to the Electoral Commission of SA (ECSA).
But Stock – a former Yorke Peninsula Council deputy mayor – closed in after the count of postal votes, and preferences flowing towards her.
Liberal Leader Ashton Hurn said on Thursday she did not believe the further count would change the result but that it “raised alarm bells”.
“The Electoral Commission will need to do some explaining, really, as to how that’s occurred and why they were found four weeks after the election,” Hurn said.
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