Political heavyweights lash WA Electoral Commission as workers walk off the job

A former federal Liberal minister and an ex-Labor premier warn faith in Australia’s electoral system could diminish if failures in the conduct of Western Australia’s election at the weekend are not addressed.

Former federal Indigenous affairs minister Ken Wyatt and former WA premier Peter Dowding say an independent review is needed into the outsourcing to a private company parts of the voting process and recruitment of staff manning booths.

Former Coalition Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt has criticised the WA Electoral Commission.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

The WAEC hired recruitment firm PersolKelly in December 2023 to the tune of $86 million to run both the 2025 and 2029 state elections, including recruiting, training and paying electoral staff.

“If they’ve outsourced the process of our voting system, and it’s no longer controlled by the Australian Electoral Commission, then I have concerns about the confidentiality of the data and of the workers who work in that system,” Wyatt said.

He said a large amount of private information was disclosed by applicants seeking electoral officer roles.

“And we need to know if the electoral rolls are available to a private company,” he said.

Concerns have been aired by both sides of politics about irregularities and inefficiencies after the WA Electoral Commission “outsourced” recruitment for the election to the private company, based in Singapore.

Issues included some staff walking off the job, preference counts in some seats not scheduled to start for another 10 days, and staff being called in at short notice.

Wyatt, who was handing out how-to-vote cards in Perth hills booths on election day, says he witnessed first-hand a series of problems.

“I watched long lines, levels of frustration of people and some people travelling to other booths to try and vote because of a lack of ballot papers,” he said.

“There were lesser numbers of people at the booths managing the electoral rolls. The setup was very different to what I experienced in the past. It was as if it was a cost-cutting measure.

“Several people I’ve spoken to said they applied for roles but were told there was no opportunity.

“Two of them were experienced and had served in several elections, federal and state, and they were disappointed to learn they were no longer required.”

Wyatt said he had previously found the AEC a well-oiled organisation that was very efficient.

“We’ve not seen this type of challenge before,” he said.

“I would hope that there are guarantees about securing that data and the electoral rolls”

Ken Wyatt

Staff on the ground have told this masthead in some instances they had heard nothing from the WAEC about their role and were called in the afternoon on polling day and asked to urgently head to booths. Several staff said they received no training whatsoever.

WAEC Commissioner Robert Kennedy said on Sunday he would conduct an internal investigation into the problems.

But Dowding – who was WA premier from 1988 to 1990 – said issues impacting democratic processes needed an independent inquiry, “and one wholly independent of the Electoral Commission”.

“Any misstep in this process is a potential threat to democracy, and we have to address it,” he said.

“At present it’s regarded as one of the best systems in the world, and we’ve got to maintain that reputation.”

Former WA premier Peter Dowding.Credit: Jason South

There was clear evidence of the need for an inquiry.

“But it’s got to be led by someone independent, preferably a judicial officer. It doesn’t need to hold extended hearings, although it should offer the public the opportunity to make submissions,” Dowding said.

“The important issue is to get it right. You can’t get it right by subcontracting out the hiring of staff and the management of the electoral system.”

Dowding said he knew of a case where a person applying for an electoral position had later been sent invitations to apply for other jobs by the same company, raising concerns about sharing of information.

Wyatt said applicants seeking electoral officer roles needed assurance their information would be kept safe.

“Given the way in which data systems are hacked these days, I would hope that there are guarantees about securing that data and the electoral rolls,” he said.

A WAEC spokeswoman said a very small number of its workforce of 7000 “left their positions due to personal or other reasons during the last two days”.

“This is expected given the volume of staff employed for the state election,” she said.

The spokeswoman said WAEC worked in partnership with the recruitment firm and disputed claims of “outsourcing”.

She said the full distribution of preferences count would take place from about March 19 onwards.

Get alerts on significant breaking news as it happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert.