The 151 ballots that the NSW Liberals say should overturn the Bradfield result

Gisele Kapterian, the unsuccessful Liberal candidate for Bradfield, says at least 56 ballot papers were wrongly rejected in the final recount of the ultra-marginal seat, while 95 were incorrectly allowed, prompting her to ask the High Court to overturn the result and declare her the winner.

Kapterian last week ended weeks of speculation and lodged a petition with the High Court, which sits as the Court of Disputed Returns to hear election challenges, in a bid to be declared victorious in Bradfield instead of teal MP-elect Nicolette Boele.

Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian is seeking to have the result overturned.Credit: Jessica Hromas

Boele, who will give her inaugural speech to federal parliament on July 28, won the once blue-ribbon Liberal seat after a recount of the northern Sydney seat in which she finished 26 votes ahead of Kapterian.

In her petition, Kapterian says the Australian electoral officer (AEO) – who is the electoral commission’s manager in each state – “wrongly rejected at least 56 of the reserved ballot papers, where those ballot papers indicated a preference, by the voter, for the petitioner ahead of the first respondent”. Boele is listed as the first respondent.

“In each such case the ballot paper was not informal and should not have been rejected,” the petition says, referencing examples such as the officer “not being satisfied that the figure 1 in one square was distinguishable from the figure in another square”.

Kapterian has not seen the ballot papers, and her legal team will be provided with them once the AEC hands them to the court. However, her concerns were formed based on feedback and notes taken by scrutineers overseeing the final recount.

Teal politician Nicolette Boele at the Australian Electoral Commission counting centre in Asquith last month.Credit: Janie Barrett

The AEO was tasked with reviewing and making rulings on 795 reserved ballot papers.

As well as the rejected ballots, Kapterian’s petition says the AEO “wrongly admitted at least 95 of the reserved ballot papers, where those ballot papers indicated a preference, by the voter, for the first respondent ahead of the petitioner”.

Kapterian has asked the court to rule that Boele was “not duly elected to the House of Representatives for the electoral division of Bradfield”. Rather, Kapterian should be declared the rightful winner, with her costs covered by Boele and the electoral commission.

Kapterian, who was named as assistant opposition spokeswoman for technology and the digital economy before the recount confirmed Boele as the winner, said she was expecting a “short and sharp” hearing and none of her costs in lodging the petition would be met by taxpayers.

Kapterian has indemnity from the Liberal Party in the event of a loss, but Boele is a respondent so is likely to incur costs.

Nick Greiner, chair of the management committee running the embattled NSW Liberals, last week wrote to party members to inform them that they had “resolved to support Gisele Kapterian’s petition to the High Court regarding the result in the seat of Bradfield”.

“We have agreed that the party will meet the costs of the initial phase of this legal process and for Gisele to obtain legal advice on the prospects of success,” Greiner’s letter said.

“This is a serious and important step, one we believe is in the best interests of the Liberal Party and in ensuring confidence in the outcome of the May election.”

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