Aussie in US gets many mail-in votes for Voice Referendum.
Australian Voters Claim Multiple Postal Votes for The Voice Referendum
Australian voters for The Voice, including a Victorian woman living in Seattle, claim to have received multiple postal votes for the upcoming referendum.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) however, claims it has “strict roll checks” when postal votes are returned.
Aisling Salisbury told The Epoch Times she received two ballots this week directly from the AEC in the United States.
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Ms. Salisbury is concerned about the integrity of the referendum.
“I mean I get the fact that the AEC counter would scan the barcode on the envelope and it could say, yeah this person has voted twice,” Ms. Salisbury told The Epoch Times.
“But if you have an activist they could still slip the ballot paper in if it favours their belief because there’s no barcode on the ballot paper itself. You would have to trust the system that the scrutineers wouldn’t allow that and that the electorate would go, wait there’s 50,000 votes and 40,000 registered voters.
“So that’s where I see it as, “Well there was clearly a degree of fraud, we have to do this again”.
Not the Only One
Melbourne voter Terry Guest and his wife also received two postal votes and were told by the AEC to “just disregard one of them and shred it if possible,” Daily Mail Australia reported.
A Victorian woman also said she received two postal ballot papers with different voting numbers last week under her name.
In another instance, a voter claimed she received four postal votes. The woman said she had returned the postal votes and notified the local district AEC office.
In response, the AEC highlighted postal votes are checked against the electoral roll when they are returned and posted a link to its postal vote application integrity checks.
The Voice referendum will be held on Oct. 14, with early voting around the country already underway.
Voters are being asked “Yes” or “No” to altering the preamble of the Constitution to “recognise the First Peoples of Australia” and to also set up a near-permanent advisory body that will “make representations” to the legislature and executive.
How does the AEC address concerns of fraud and manipulation in the electoral process in Australia?
Ofollow”>subjected to strict roll checks, including a verification process to ensure the voter has not already cast their vote.
The AEC stated that they take the issue of multiple voting seriously and have systems in place to prevent it from occurring.
“We take the integrity of the electoral roll very seriously,” said a spokesperson for the AEC.
“Our systems include measures to prevent multiple voting, such as checking for duplicate and invalid votes. If a person is found to have cast multiple votes, only one vote will be counted.”
The AEC maintains that their procedures are robust and that the possibility of fraud is minimal. They also encourage anyone who suspects electoral fraud to report it immediately.
This is not the first time concerns have been raised about the integrity of the electoral process in Australia. In recent years, there have been reports of cyberattacks on the Australian Electoral Commission, raising questions about the security of the system.
In a related story from August this year, Russian or Chinese hackers were blamed for a cyberattack on the Australian Electoral Commission. This incident further highlighted the vulnerabilities of the electoral system and the need for enhanced security measures.
With the upcoming referendum, the issue of multiple voting has once again come to the forefront. Critics argue that the reliance on paper ballots leaves room for manipulation and fraud. They call for the implementation of more secure and transparent voting methods.
Proponents of the current system argue that the stringent checks and balances in place ensure the integrity of the electoral process. They assert that cases of multiple voting are rare and that the system has proven effective in maintaining the fairness of elections in Australia.
Despite the debate, it is crucial to address any concerns regarding the integrity of the referendum vote. Continued vigilance and review of the electoral process are essential to uphold the democratic principles and ensure trust in the outcome of the referendum.
As the AEC continues its strict roll checks and investigation into the reported cases of multiple voting, the focus remains on preserving the integrity of the election process and addressing any potential vulnerabilities.
Ultimately, it is imperative that all Australian voters have confidence in the electoral system and trust that their votes will be accurately counted. Only by addressing concerns and implementing necessary improvements can this confidence be maintained.
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