Liberal Gisele Kapterian’s claim that she belongs in parliament rests on a challenge to 151 questionable ballots, which a judge will now have to decipher one pencil squiggle at a time.

Kapterian has applied to the Court of Disputed Returns alleging the Australian Electoral Commission committed “illegal practices” wrongly including or excluding these ballots in a bid to overturn her 26-vote defeat in a recount that stretched on for more than a month after the May 3 federal election.