Election day bungles: Polling booth illegally shutdown

The “illegal” closure of a polling booth is the latest in a range of widespread problems reported on election day, prompting political leaders to demand the Electoral Commission of Queensland do better.

The “illegal” closure of a polling booth is the latest in a range of widespread problems reported on election day, prompting political leaders to demand the Electoral Commission of Queensland do better.

Voters lining up at the Springfield Lakes State School had gates slammed in their face at 5.30pm – half-an-hour before the polls were due to close.

Queensland’s longest-serving councillor, Ipswich’s Paul Tully, described the closure as “an affront to democracy which disenfranchised potentially hundred of voters”.

Mr Tully said his son John Paul, a lawyer, was handing out how-to-vote cards at the booth at the time of the shock closure, prompting him to enter and demand polling officials reopen the gates.

It led, he said, to “frantic calls by local officials to the Ipswich returning officer” before the gates were reopened 15 minutes before the 6pm poll close.

“In my 43 years in local government, I have never seen such incompetence,” Mr Tully said.

He said the ECQ had failed to deliver a smooth election day across the state and demanded it waive fines for voters who were denied access to the Springfield polling place due to the “monumental debacle”.

Paul Tully. Picture: Richard Walker

An ECQ spokeswoman suggested the gates were not shut, but a staffer had closed the queue before 6pm.

“The report from Councillor Tully has been reviewed and the ECQ understands that a staff member was managing the queue at the Springfield Lakes State School polling booth prior to the close of polls,” she said.

“However, on advice from the Returning Officer, staff ensured that voting remained open to all electors present at 6pm.

“As we do following any election event, we will evaluate how this event has been delivered and make any required adjustments.”

It was one of a range of problems – including long lines and a lack of ballot papers – reported by Queenslanders on election day.

The ECQ spokeswoman said some 3.5 million Queenslanders were eligible to vote, meaning some queues were expected.

“Queues on election day are not uncommon and while there were long queues in some places, in many others, the wait time for electors was very short,” she said.

“The ECQ had around 1000 polling booths open across the state on election day, staffed by around 7000 election staff.

“Our staff worked diligently to get people through as quickly as possible and we are very appreciative of the work of our team and are very comfortable with staffing levels throughout the voting period, including on election day.

Voters in SEQ on Saturday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

“Every Queensland elector who presented at a polling place before 6pm and wanted to cast a vote was able to cast their vote.

The ECQ spokeswoman said where ballot papers were depleted in some locations, they were “quickly replenished” by returning officers.

“This is not an out of the ordinary occurrence, and electors in those polling places received their ballot papers and cast their votes,” she said.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said he understood criticisms of the ECQ after chaotic scenes at polling booths.

“I believe in a democracy every person deserves the right to cast their vote as efficiently and as effectively as possible,” he said.

Local Government Association of Queensland chief executive officer Alison Smith said the process needed to be improved.

“While local government elections are larger and more complex than state government elections, it is important to ensure every vote is counted, and the result of that count is published as soon as possible,” she said.

“On Saturday evening, while local candidates were readily getting information through the scrutineering process, the broader community in some locations experienced delays with slow uploads of vote counts to the ECQ website.”