Dean Jaensch: Early voters run risk of missing late-campaign developments

660,000 people have already voted in the election, but there’s a lot they could potentially be missing in the final two weeks, writes Dean Jaensch.

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We are still two weeks out from the election but about 660,000 have already voted.

Some people have good reasons, but for many early voters, it seems to be simply to get it out of the way.

Unfortunately for them these people miss out on developments, events and new material up to election eve. They have also missed out on reacting to the shambles that this election has become.

There is an unprecedented number of candidates who have had their party endorsement removed by their party: At least twelve so far, of whom eight were Liberal candidates and one Labor.

There are rumours of more to come. Why is this happening?

Some aspiring politicians have done things and said things which suggest they are not fit and proper persons to hold a seat in Parliament.

Social media has made it much easier to identify them. Parties can dredge though the mass of material easily in the hope of finding someone “of interest” in the other party’s team.

Labor originally decided that, as the unacceptable behaviour of one Labor candidate occurred a long time ago and he showed remorse, he could stay as a Labor candidate.

But further trawling found more evidence and he resigned.

Once revealed as “unfit”, the penalty is expulsion from the party.

This is where it all becomes interesting. The candidate’s name and party label remain on the ballot paper but early voters cannot change their vote.

Further, future voters who have not followed the political news assiduously may not be aware some candidates are no longer party members. More importantly, these candidates will still play a full role in the decisions about who wins the electorates concerned.

This raises the issue of preferences. The parties could pulp the existing how-to-vote cards and issue updated new ones.

But that would not help those electors who have early voted. And, as the original party has to stay on the ballot paper, it could cause even more confusion.

Of course, a candidate who loses party endorsement could simply withdraw from the whole contest.

But that does not affect the election process.

The count will proceed, preferences will be distributed, and the election winners will be announced.

The odds against it are massive, but what if one of these candidates actually wins a seat, especially if the national overall result is close?

It is a serious mess.

The lesson for aspiring candidates is clear: Get your citizenship status worked out and think carefully before you put anything on social media.