Adelaide City Council election vote counting software malfunctioned, leading to incorrect count

A legal fight over who won the Adelaide City Council election has been rocked by a voting machine error – with a court told it changes more than the winning margin.

Software entrusted with tallying the Adelaide City Council election results malfunctioned – affecting a hotly-contested ward – but the mistake went unnoticed for more than a year and may affect other ballots, a court has heard.

On Wednesday, the Court of Disputed Returns heard newly-minted councillor Jing Li’s 31-vote unseating of Alexander Hyde last year arose from “an error in the distribution of preferences”.

It also heard the Electoral Commission concedes that mistake, by the “EzyCount” program in November last year, went undiscovered until Tuesday, the day before Mr Hyde’s legal challenge to the ballot was to resume.

The court was told the error meant Mr Li had won Central Ward by 24 votes, not 31 – but Simon Ower KC, for Mr Hyde, said it created a far bigger issue.

Former Adelaide City Councillor Alexander Hyde is contesting the election result in the Court of Disputed Returns. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Brenton Edwards

Adelaide City Councillor Jing Li won the election in a very close count. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Brenton Edwards

He said evidence would need to be gathered to determine whether EzyCount had made other errors not only in the Adelaide election, but in other council areas.

“That changes the complexity of this case far more than a margin of 31 to 24,” he said.

Mr Hyde is seeking to have the election declared void and recontested, and has alleged in court that Mr Li only won because of his “illegal practices” and those of his supporters.

He further claims thoseactions were captured by covert recordings.

Mr Li, who has not been charged with any criminal offence, has repeatedly denied all of Mr Hyde’s allegations in his court documents, saying he offered no bribes and was not involved in illegal practices.

His court documents branded Mr Hyde’s case “speculative” and “embarrassing”.

In the letter tendered to the court on Wednesday, the Commission says EzyCount is used “for elections with a large number of candidates and multiple vacancies”.

It says EzyCount was used in the Central Ward count in 2022 but “on Tuesday, 5 December, 2023, an error was detected” within “its set-up”.

A “check box within the system”, it said, “had been selected which resulted in the incorrect number of ballot papers being distributed” on preferences.

As a result, Mr Hyde received “24 less votes” than Mr Li, which the Commission says is an “accurate” count.

On Wednesday, Mr Ower said he was happy for the case to proceed as scheduled “for now”, but reserved the right to seek an adjournment to “consider our position” on the software error.

Counsel for Mr Li said they adopted the same course.