Opposition calls for inquiry into WA Electoral Commission ‘outsourcing’ election

Opposition leader Shane Love has called for Western Australian Electoral Commissioner Robert Kennedy to be suspended and for a parliamentary inquiry to be launched over Saturday’s state election conduct concerns.

Love said there were growing reports of irregularities after the WAEC “outsourced” the election to a private company based in Singapore.

WA Opposition Leader Shane Love.Credit: Holly Thompson

After concerns regarding the operation, with reports of ballot papers running out, voters being asked to travel to different booths to cast their vote and counting moving slowly, Commissioner Kennedy said on Sunday he would conduct a full investigation.

But Love said this was insufficient, and allowing the Electoral Commission itself to review this matter would be “like asking a fox to review the security of a hen house”.

“We actually need to ensure that the West Australian public has confidence in their electoral process, and I think many West Australians would be surprised to know that a private company had been involved in the conduct of their election, and they would also be very concerned to know that voters had been turned away from polling booths after having been instructed that they would be ticked off as if they had voted,” Love said.

“It’s not a matter of whether or not someone is ticked off the roll, it’s whether they have had a right to have a democratic expression through their vote, and not allowing that to happen is an abject failure of the Commission.”

Love also claimed he had heard stories of election staff not being trained in their roles, some voters being asked for identification, which is not required, and ballot boxes not being secured.

On Sunday, Premier Roger Cook also blasted the Commission saying the issues with wait times and ballot paper shortages were “unacceptable”.

“Obviously, they could get some from other [polling places] but we were disappointed with the WAEC’s running of the election yesterday, and I’m sure a lot of people shared our frustration with having to wait so long,” he said.

Kennedy acknowledged the issues.

“We’ve received feedback directly, and we are hearing the concerns being expressed in the community,” he said.

“I want to be clear, I will do a full and thorough investigation into what has occurred right now. However, our focus is on our polling places across the state.

“Most polling places operated efficiently, however, we recognise that some locations experienced challenges, including queues and ballot paper shortage issues.”

A WACE spokesperson said the firm PersolKelly had worked with the commission as a recruitment partner but disputed claims the election was ‘outsourced’.

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