Liberals closing in on Labor in Dunstan as declaration vote counting continues – but hopes of a comeback are fading

Labor has extended its gap in Dunstan but time is fast running out for an unlikely come-from-behind win.

Labor has slightly widened the gap in the Dunstan by-election but it still is on a a knife-edge 50.9-49.1 margin as Liberals hope a miracle comeback fade.

The Electoral Commission had by Wednesday morning counted more than 8000 declaration votes, with 54 per cent of those favouring Liberal candidate Dr Anna Finizio.

The extra votes cut Labor’s lead to 50.9 per cent in the two-party preferred count.

But Labor candidate Cressida O’Hanlon, 51, is now 384 votes ahead - from 367 votes — of Dr Finizio, with at least more than 500 votes left to be counted.

Labor say the vote is just over 300 votes which will fall to between 200 and 250 votes by the end of the day.

Postal votes will also be accepted as they arrive throughout the week.

Liberal officials believed they would lose former premier Steven Marshall’s inner eastern suburbs electorate, while Labor sources were confident of a win.

In the latest figures, the Greens’ primary vote – which had surged to 22.4 per cent in the early stages of counting – had slipped to 19.2 per cent.

Why is it taking so long?

Though there were fewer than 21,000 votes cast in the Dunstan by-election – a relatively small number – the count has now entered its third day without a final result.

Senior figures from both major parties have expressed frustration at the delays involved with the current system.

The Electoral Commission of South Australia (ECSA) must follow legislation that sets out the process for counting votes.

After voting closes at 6pm on election day, votes cast during the day are counted that night.

In some elections, enough votes are counted on the night to clearly determine who the winner will be before the count is finished.

According to ECSA’s website, a re-count of those same votes is conducted on the Sunday after the election and any updates are published on the ECSA website.

However, in the Dunstan by-election, counting stopped on Sunday and resumed on Monday.

Under the current system, pre-poll and postal votes, known as declaration votes, cannot be counted until the Monday after the election.

All those votes must be checked off against the electoral roll before they can be counted, and results are updated throughout the week.

In its review of the 2022 state election, released in July last year, ECSA recommended changes to the Electoral Act so that early votes to be counted before the close of polls on election day.

“As the number of declaration votes increases at state elections, the counting process becomes more drawn out, and the more likely it becomes that results in close elections remain unknown for several days,” it said.

A ECSA spokeswoman said votes were also being received back from interstate electoral commissions during the week.

“The count is on schedule and following the same timeline as the 2022 state election, District of Dunstan,” she said.

Anna Finizio casts her vote at East Adelaide Primary School on Saturday. Picture: Dean Martin

Electoral reform needed

Party strategists on both sides have said electoral reform will be “high on the list” to “clean up” voting laws after proposed changes failed during the Liberal government’s administration.

Premier Peter Malinauskas on Sunday agreed the current system “has got to change”.

“Postal votes and pre-polls have become part of the electoral system and I think the system has to catch up with that in the way that counting occurs and that requires some legislative change,” he said.

“That’s something that we are committed to doing and hopefully something that might enjoy bipartisan support.”

While ECSA data shows there are 27,108 electors enrolled in Dunstan, only 12,779 cast a formal vote on election day (another 304 cast informal votes that are not counted in the tally).

There were 8022 declaration votes received before Saturday – 2543 postal and 5479 pre-poll.

However, postal votes are accepted until seven days after election day.

The commission received 3829 postal vote applications, which suggests up to 1286 people could return their vote this week.

On those figures, more than 4500 people did not cast a vote in the election – indicating lower voter turnout than at the 2022 general election.