The town where 93 per cent of votes for local council weren’t counted

One hundred and eighty-seven people live in the far north-west NSW town of Toomelah, and 43 of them went to the primary school on a Saturday in September to vote in their council elections.

But only three votes were counted: 93 per cent of ballots from the town’s only polling booth were deemed informal by the NSW Electoral Commission, mostly because voters placed only a “1” next to their preferred candidate.

If you think there’s nothing wrong with that, your vote might not have been counted either. The commission’s rules require voters to preference at least half as many candidates as there are available positions. With nine councillors, Moree Plains Shire voters needed to number at least five candidates.

An aerial view of Toomelah.Credit: People Oriented Design/Kramer Ausenco

Toomelah’s voters were faced with one group candidate and a list of independents, resulting in a bizarre vertical ballot layout not resembling an “above or below the line” ballot.

The issue was reported by the New England Times, whose founder, Raphaella Kathryn Crosby, said the people of Toomelah had been “disenfranchised trying to vote for Indigenous candidates”.

The ballot for the Moree Plains Shire Council election.Credit: NSW Electoral Commission

Once billed by this newspaper as the town that hope abandoned, Toomelah was established as an Aboriginal reserve in 1937. Ninety-four per cent of its residents are Indigenous, according to the latest census data.

A landmark 1987 Human Rights Commission report found Moree Plains Shire Council had refused to supply water or sewerage services to Toomelah by terming it a “private settlement”, a phrase with no legal basis.

But the council has come a long way, including through the election of Gomeroi woman 28-year-old Mekayla Cochrane. In September, Frederick McGrady, 71, hoped to become the first councillor born in Toomelah.

When votes were tallied, McGrady was elected, but Cochrane lost her seat.

Including the ballots that put her first with a single “1” wouldn’t have changed the election outcome, said electoral analyst Ben Raue. But he criticised the rules the electoral commission applied.

“Anyone who marks their ballot should have their vote count,” he said. “This isn’t someone scribbling on their ballot or refusing to vote. If you look at the ballot paper it’s clear who they voted for.”

Raue said Australians were proud of having an easy voting process, which was partially true.

“We make it easy for people to get a piece of paper in their hands. But we don’t make it easy for people to indicate their intention on the vote. That process is quite complicated relative to most countries,” he said.

Newly elected McGrady told the New England Times the issue was “a wake-up to ensure that Aboriginal people are involved in the process”.

Special Minister of State John Graham described the informal ballot spike as “extremely concerning”.

“We want every vote in every community to count at every election,” he said, adding the matter had been referred to NSW Parliament’s joint standing committee on electoral matters.

A commission spokesperson said an analysis of informal voting patterns would be undertaken in coming months.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.