Dodgy Vote Counting (✅ Good, ❌ Bad)

“Tick means Yes! Crosses are ignored!” – “That sounds kind of dodgy…” – “TOO RIGHT!”. Australians will be voting in a referendum in a couple of months time to determine whether there’ll be an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. According to the Prime Minister, if you’re a good person, you’ll vote Yes. The No vote has no chance, right? Well just in case, they’ve made it a bit easier for you to vote Yes.

Here’s a sample ballot paper from the Australian Electoral Commission. (Link below – It even lets you practise online – just in case you can’t write Yes or No). “DIRECTIONS TO VOTER: Write "YES" or "NO" in the space provided opposite the question set out below. Do you approve this proposed alteration? Write "YES" or "NO"”.

It couldn’t be clearer, right? You either write Yes, or No. But obviously, the Prime Minister would prefer that you write Yes, right? I mean, it’s right there on his shirt! But just in case you don’t write Yes and do something a little bit strange, never fear! You’ll still get a chance for your Yes vote to count!

In a recent interview, Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers was asked whether scrutineers would accept other types of marks inside the box. He replied, “Make sure you write on that box ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in English. Now there are some savings provisions, but I need to be very clear with people – when we look at that, it is likely that a tick will be accepted as a formal vote for yes, but a cross will not be accepted as a formal vote.”

So it sounds like that if you put a tick in the box, it will count as a Yes vote, but if you put a cross in there, your vote just won’t count at all. Does anybody else think that sounds dodgy? It seems like they’re giving one side an advantage. Look, I doubt many people would be going in there ticking and crossing the box instead of writing Yes or No, but there certainly might be some, and to think that only one side of the vote will count in that situation.

Mr Rogers continued, “We’re being very clear with people, part of our education campaign will talk about this, the materials in the polling place so people can look at it. But please, make sure you write ‘yes’ or ‘no’ clearly on the ballot paper in English. That way you can assure yourself that your vote will count.”

When pressed about the tick/cross controversy, he replied, “The no side might say, well hang on, it’s a lower bar for the yes side. No not at all. That’s why we’re spending a lot of time talking to the community about what constitutes a valid vote. When the voter’s intention is clear, those votes are included.”

When asked whether a Y or N would count, Mr Rogers responded, “Again the legislation says ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is a formal vote. There are some things called savings provisions and given the fact we’re trying to give effect to the voter’s intent, it is likely that a ‘y’ or an ‘n’ would be counted under the savings provisions. But I get nervous even talking about that because then people hear mixed messages. It’s just important to write either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on that ballot paper.”

When asked if any other symbols will count, he said, “A thumbs up👍🏻 symbol will count as a ‘yes’ vote, but a thumbs down👎🏻 will not count as a ‘no’ vote. Similarly, a smiley face😀 will count as a ‘yes’ vote, but a frowning face🙁 will not count as a formal vote. Actually, the following symbols will all count as ‘yes’ votes: lips👄, balloon🎈, Christmas tree🎄, rainbow🌈, men holding hands👬, and bunny rabbit🐇, but everything else will not count as a formal vote.”

According to the AEC’s official Referendum 2023 website, Completing the ballot paper, Yes and No are the only formal ways to vote, however, they do have a question further down, “Can you use a tick or cross to vote in a referendum?”. “Please don’t. Clearly write yes or no, in full, in English. We expect the vast, vast majority of voters to follow those instructions. The formality rules for referendums has been the same for a long period of time – this includes ‘savings provisions’ (the ability to count a vote where the instructions have not been followed but the voter’s intention is clear). Since 1988 the AEC has followed legal advice regarding the application of savings provisions to ‘ticks’ and ‘crosses’ on referendum ballot papers. This is not new.”

Anyway, I think you get the idea. Tick means Yes! Crosses are ignored! That sounds kind of dodgy… TOO RIGHT!

REFERENDUM 2023: COMPLETING THE BALLOT PAPER
https://www.aec.gov.au/referendums/vote/completing-the-ballot-paper.html

‘SOUNDS DODGY’ – VOICE VOTERS CONFUSED BY TICKS AND CROSSES
https://www.2gb.com/sounds-dodgy-voice-voters-confused-by-ticks-and-crosses/

‘TICK WILL BE ACCEPTED, CROSS WILL NOT’: AEC BOSS SLAMMED FOR CONFUSING VOICE REFERENDUM RULE
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/tick-will-be-accepted-cross-will-not-aec-boss-slammed-for-confusing-voice-referendum-rule/news-story/b8c6e57e6c7d4e9564ce32d183460bb2

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Allégro by Emmit Fenn