Voting boss calls for shock delay to council elections
The beleaguered Electoral Commission of South Australia wants to push out local council elections by half a year, fearing a repeat of the problem-plagued 2026 State Election.
Acting South Australian Election Commissioner Leah McLay has asked for the upcoming local government elections to be delayed until mid-2027, citing fears a repeat of the problems that plagued the bungled 2026 State Election could reoccur.
In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, McLay announced she had asked Special Minister of State Kyam Maher last week to delay the elections that were slated for November.
The Local Government Association (LGA) and SA’s 67 councils were notified about the request earlier on Tuesday.
McLay said she was unaware of this kind of delay ever occurring before in South Australia, but that it had happened interstate. The state government has said the change would require special legislation to be passed.
“I’m concerned that without adequate time to prepare and to submit critical findings from the independent review that we may carry through some of the same challenges that we faced in the state election,” McLay said.
An independent review of the 2026 State Election is currently underway after uncounted ballots were discovered following March’s polling day. The review is also investigating reports of ECSA staff having their pay delayed and claims that Aboriginal Australians were mistreated at the ballot box.
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SA Election Commissioner Mick Sherry who is on a $325,000 salary package has been on leave from the job since April, McLay saying today that she “did not have any information about a return date”.
McLay said that while hiring for temporary staffing of the November elections had not yet started, “we anticipate that we will have some challenges doing that, given the levels of frustration, fatigue, and so forth that our temporary election workforce are facing post the state election”.
“I am very concerned that the upcoming local election will experience similar impacts,” McLay said.
McLay said she had informed the Local Government Association, which had already started advertising to promote enrolling in the election, and all 67 affected South Australian councils.
“I have not taken this decision lightly and I apologise for the impact a delay would have on councils and ratepayers,” McLay said.
“I am concerned about ECSA’s ability to recruit staff, particularly in light of the level of frustration, fatigue and uncertainty arising from the State Election and independent review.
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“I expect the independent review to identify necessary improvements and make recommendations; however, there is sufficient time to receive and implement the review findings prior to the local government election.”
McLay said she would update the community on the next steps for the local government elections once Maher had the opportunity to consider her request.
Special Minister of State Kyam Maher confirmed at a press conference this afternoon that he had an initial meeting with McLay last week, and received formal advice last Thursday.
Maher said that the government discussed the request in cabinet this afternoon and would make a decision in the next few days, but that new legislation would need to be passed to delay the elections.
“We are exceptionally frustrated, we are exceptionally disappointed that we’ve got to this stage,” he said.
Asked if local government elections had ever been delayed before, Maher said the last time it happened was around 2006-2007, when the Adelaide City Council elections were put off by a year because of a boundary review.
Maher would not comment on Mick Sherry’s absence, saying his advice was that the commissioner was on personal leave.
One Nation upper house MP Carlos Quaremba said today’s announcement was “poor form” from the Electoral Commission and that a delay “would inevitably see local government become even more dysfunctional”.
“A proposed delay of any democratic process should be the decision of an entire parliament, not just one minister,” Quaremba said.
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