Bills

Electoral (Early Counting) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (17:23): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Electoral Act 1985. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (17:24): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill I bring to this place today on behalf of the Greens, but I note that while I bring this legislation forward in that way it is actually a bill that was reflected in a piece of government legislation late last year that was passed through this place. Indeed, it is deeply disappointing that we are having to bring this bill to this place today, and it highlights yet another failure of the Marshall Liberal government to prepare for basically anything during their four-year term.

The Legislative Council passed this piece of legislation within another bill on 18 November last year, yet that passage in this place was not prioritised in the other place in the remaining sitting days of the late months of last year. It is absolutely woeful form on the government's part that these important legislative changes to our electoral processes were not only that close to the upcoming state election, indeed, they are still unresolved so close to the issue of the writs.

This bill is exactly what it says on the tin. It would allow for pre-poll votes to start being counted before election day so that we can have a more accurate result shared with everyone on the night of the state election this year. The past decade has seen a dramatic surge in pre-poll voting at both state and federal elections.

Here in South Australia, the last state election, 2018, saw 120,468 ballots cast at pre-poll voting centres. That represented 10.8 per cent of all ballots cast during that particular election. It was a 241 per cent increase in the number of pre-poll ballots cast since the 2010 state election. Similarly, postal voting has also seen a dramatic surge in popularity, with 73,982 postal ballots returned and admitted to the count in 2018, representing some 8.5 per cent of all votes cast in that election.

Those were both before we were in a pandemic. The Electoral Commission of South Australia quite rightly anticipates these numbers to continue to increase with each future election. Add to that the situation of a pandemic, and of course these votes are going to increase in number. Given this year's upcoming state election is taking place within the pandemic and these numbers will increase even further, who will want to be lining up in crowded spaces or taking the risk of voting in person on election day and risking contracting COVID-19?

Many South Australian voters will, and should be supported to, opt to exercise their vote in a more COVID-safe manner, whether that be a postal ballot or at a pre-poll centre. During this difficult and uncertain time, we should be doing everything we can to enfranchise people to vote, and that means knowing that their vote is going to be counted in a timely manner and giving us the certainty on election night of better knowing the results.

The growth of pre-poll and postal voting has altered the flow of results on election night, of course. Without the counting of pre-poll votes on election day, the chance of having that clear result on election night is greatly diminished. Increasingly, we are seeing a greater number of seats on election night remain what is called 'too close to call' because the results are so close, and they are reliant on pre-poll and postal votes to determine those outcomes when that affects the broader outcome of the general election. This is why it is important to count those votes as soon as possible.

Importantly, as well, the legislation before us today will still safeguard people's votes so that the results of pre-poll votes will not be leaked out ahead of election day by persons undertaking early counting or by scrutineers. Under this legislation, the Electoral Commissioner will determine an area to be a restricted area, which is where the votes will be counted. People entering this area will need to undertake to abide by any conditions of entry and surrender any devices that allow information to be communicated outside the restricted area.

Penalties will apply to a person who fails to comply with an undertaking of a condition of permission of entry. Penalties also apply to a person who discloses any information relating to scrutiny of votes before the close of poll to a person outside the restricted area. The Electoral Commissioner has the power to make exemptions to the strict rules to deal with any emergency or urgent situation, if required.

This is a simple bill, the contents of which everyone in the chamber already agreed to late last year. With that in mind, I hope that it will pass quickly this evening; however, nothing is taken for granted in this council. While I know that this will no longer be able to be considered by the other place given the government's refusal to front up for work this week, I note also that the Electoral Commissioner and the State Coordinator are now in the invidious position of having to make calls of their own volition and their own independence.

Surely it will send a strong signal to them that the Labor Party, the Greens, the Liberal Party, SA-Best and Advance SA, at the very least, have indicated with their votes their support for this move. While we did not make provisions late last year, we can certainly send a strong message tonight. With that, I commend the bill.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (17:30): Given the lateness of the hour, I do not intend to make a lengthy contribution at all. As has been acknowledged, the bill cannot be passed, this week anyway, but in principle the government is supportive of the notion of being able to count the votes on election day to the extent that is possible for the reasons that have been well and truly outlined and the experience that we have seen elsewhere. My advice is that there are one or two—or certainly one further amendment that the government believes is required to this sort of proposed package, which would need to be undertaken, but I do not propose to waste the time of the council by outlining that at this particular stage.

From the government's viewpoint, as I said, in principle we accept the logic of what has been discussed. One would hope that the new parliament will make the changes in plenty of time for the 2026 election. The other thing I should note is that, as with the telephone assisted voting, the official advice from the Electoral Commissioner is that even if this particular bill were to be passed this week there is not sufficient time for the Electoral Commission to implement this change before this election anyway.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (17:32): I place on the record very quickly that the opposition will be supporting this bill.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

Bill taken through committee without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (17:35): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.