Scrutineering - NSW Liberal training

Summary

The training video on scrutinizing by the NSW Liberal Party emphasizes the crucial role of scrutineering in ensuring fair and accurate vote counting during elections. The session, led by Jared from the head office, encourages interactive participation and highlights the importance of scrutinizing to determine election outcomes. Key aspects covered include observing the sealing and opening of ballot boxes, understanding formal and informal votes, and the responsibilities of a scrutineer. The session provides detailed instructions and encourages respectful engagement while challenging dubious votes to ensure every Liberal vote counts.

Highlights

• Jared from the NSW Liberal head office leads a vital training on scrutineering. 🎓
• Scrutineering is fundamental to Australia's democratic process. 🇦🇺
• Every Liberal vote should be counted correctly, and informal opponents' votes challenged. ⚖️
• Respectful and firm challenges to informal votes are essential. 🔍
• Complete your scrutineer appointment form and be inside the booth before 6 p.m. 🕕

Key Takeaways

• Scrutineering is crucial for fair and correct election outcomes. 🗳️
• Observe the sealing and opening of ballot boxes and postal votes. 🚪
• Understanding formal and informal votes is key for effective scrutineering. 📚
• Always be respectful and polite, but firm when challenging votes. 🤝
• Practice makes perfect – go through examples to sharpen your scrutinizing skills! 🧠

Overview

In this engaging and informative session, Jared from the NSW Liberal Party's head office breaks down the process of scrutineering, a critical aspect to safeguard democracy during elections. He emphasizes the importance of every Liberal vote being counted accurately while challenging any suspicious votes from opponents. Jared maintains a fun and interactive tone throughout, encouraging attendees to actively participate during the training.

Scrutineers play a pivotal role on election day, observing every step from the sealing of ballot boxes to the final count. The session carefully guides scrutineers on how to distinguish between formal and informal votes, ensuring none of the candidate's votes are wrongfully excluded. The importance of presenting oneself respectably and adhering to election rules is continually underscored to maintain the integrity of the voting process.

The training wraps up with practical advice and hands-on examples to bolster scrutineers' understanding and application of scrutinering practices. Jared emphasizes the necessity of being prepared and staying respectful yet firm in addressing voting anomalies. Such meticulous attention ensures fairness and integrity in election results, highlighting the indispensable role of scrutineers in the democratic process.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Significance of Scrutineering The chapter introduces the concept and importance of scrutineering in an electoral campaign. Jared from head office conducts the training, emphasizing that scrutineering can significantly impact the outcome in certain electoral seats. This chapter sets the stage for understanding how scrutineering plays a crucial role in the campaign.
• 03:00 - 06:00: Scrutineering Day Procedures The chapter titled 'Scrutineering Day Procedures' begins with an introduction, informing attendees that there are approximately 3 days and 23 hours remaining before an event or deadline. The speaker acknowledges the challenging weather conditions faced by participants and expresses gratitude for their presence at the scrutineering training and information session. The session is expected to last about half an hour and will include interactive elements.
• 08:00 - 11:00: Postal Vote Handling and Rules The chapter titled 'Postal Vote Handling and Rules' seems to focus on encouraging participation and interaction from attendees. A team from the head office is present to address any questions or concerns from those in attendance. They are utilizing a Q&A function to facilitate this communication. Attendees are encouraged to participate and ask questions, which will be answered in real-time by the head office team.
• 14:00 - 17:00: Role of a Scrutineer and Guidelines The chapter discusses the role and importance of a scrutineer, including what to expect both during the day and night. Participants can ask questions and see questions posed by others, with the option to 'thumbs up' a question they also want answered. The format encourages engagement and ensures popular queries are addressed.
• 20:00 - 23:00: Counting Process and Formality of Votes The chapter discusses the counting process and the formality of votes, emphasizing the importance of scrutinering in the democratic process of Australia. Scrutinering is crucial for ensuring that the ballot count is fair and accurate, often determining the outcome of political seats.
• 27:00 - 31:00: Guidelines and Examples of Formal and Informal Votes This chapter explores the guidelines and practices related to both formal and informal voting processes, particularly focusing on the scrutiny and counting of votes in elections. It highlights the importance of ensuring that votes, especially from the Liberal perspective, are counted accurately and suggestions for challenging votes that are deemed informal or questionable. The chapter illustrates how voting can often include complex situations, such as three-corner contests.
• 33:00 - 36:30: Best Practices for Scrutineering The chapter titled 'Best Practices for Scrutineering' delves into the intricacies of election scrutiny processes. It recounts personal experiences at scrutiny counts, emphasizing the dynamic nature of vote counts which can fluctuate daily. The narrator shares an anecdote dating back to 2010 in Hadlock, WA, where the scrutiny process extended over two and a half weeks, illustrating the importance and complexity of the scrutiny efforts in close elections.
• 39:30 - 54:00: Interactive Examples of Ballot Papers The chapter discusses the intricacies of vote counting and the importance it holds in determining the outcome of a campaign. Initially, they were trailing by 300 votes after the second count but eventually led by 948 votes. This highlights the significance of each stage of the election process. The narrative emphasizes the role of a scrutineer on election day, which includes observing the sealing of ballot boxes prior to the commencement of voting at 8:00 a.m.
• 54:00 - 56:00: Conclusion and Key Takeaways This chapter covers the process of observing the electoral process, which includes opening postal vote ballots, observing the opening of ballot boxes, and scrutinizing the counting of votes. It provides detailed information for booth captains, many of whom are experienced in this process, as emphasized during the webinar.

Scrutineering - NSW Liberal training Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Hi everyone and welcome to our final uh training session for this campaign on scrutinering. Uh my name is Jared. I work here at head office and um it's great to have so many people on tonight for the scrutinering session. It's a really important uh important part of the campaign and uh in some seats as as you'll learn tonight it will make um a huge difference. So, we're just admitting a few more people now. Um, but
• 00:30 - 01:00 we will kick off. So, um, we've got I think it's 3 days, 23 hours to go. I know everyone's out there on the Hustings. I know it was a pretty, um, wet and horrible day for a lot of people out there. So, really appreciate you joining us tonight for scrutinering training, uh, and information session. Uh, we'll try to keep this to about half an hour. uh but uh uh as you'll see as we go in um it'll be quite interactive
• 01:00 - 01:30 and uh there'll be ways for you to participate. So uh please uh get involved uh when that comes up. Now we do have a team from head office here uh just given the large number of attendees tonight. We do have a team here from uh head office who are able to answer your questions. head to the Q&A function and ask your questions in there and they will answer it for you. So if you have any questions as we go along, please pop them in there. Um and if we don't answer
• 01:30 - 02:00 them in this session, they will uh answer them in writing to you. Um if it's a question that you have as well, everyone will be able to see the questions people ask. So if it's a question you have as well, uh just give it a little thumbs up. uh give it enough vote so that we know uh that a lot of people would like that question answered. So let's kick off with scrutinering. Tonight we're going to look at the importance of scrutinering. Uh what to expect on the day and of course on the night we're going to look
• 02:00 - 02:30 at the formality of ballot papers. Uh a look at the scrutiner handbook and uh a look at some key takeaways towards the end. So the importance of scrutinering um it is a fundamental part of our democratic process here in Australia. Um it ensures that the ballot count is fair and correct. Uh and in many many um instances it uh really determines the seat outcome. So our political focus is
• 02:30 - 03:00 to make sure that all Liberal Votes are counted correctly and fairly and that we challenge any informal Labor Teal Greens votes that come through. Um you know in many seats you know we might have a three corner contest as well. Uh so we'll talk about that as we go through. So going to the importance of scrutinering. Uh you see here there's a few uh few different examples of
• 03:00 - 03:30 elections past where it does come down to the scrutiny effort. I've spent many weeks at scrutiny counts uh where you've seen uh you've seen votes go up and down uh and uh change dayto-day sometimes uh you know my earliest um encounter with scrutinering was back in 2010 in a seat called Hadlock in WA uh and we went to account for I think it was about 2 and 1/2 weeks and you know after one count
• 03:30 - 04:00 we were 300 votes behind after the second count we were 400 ahead and then in the final count uh we came out with 948 votes in front. So, uh it does make a difference and it is incredibly important to the outcome of a campaign. So, on the day uh this we're talking about election day here, uh you're able to as a scrutiner uh observe the sealing of ballot boxes before 8:00 a.m. Observe
• 04:00 - 04:30 the opening of postal vote ballots from 4 p.m. I'll talk through each of these in a moment. Observe the opening of the ballot boxes at 6:00 p.m. Observe the counting of ballot papers and scrutinize the vote. So uh for many booth captains uh and I know that we've got many experienced people on the on the webinar tonight. You'll be very familiar with the process of scrutinering uh when we observe the
• 04:30 - 05:00 uh sealing of the ballot boxes. That's before polling opens. All the ballot boxes have a unique identifier number on there. And you can observe the boxes being sealed and the number being written down by the polling place manager. Then uh we'll come back to postal vote ballots uh and early voting. Uh you can observe the opening of the ballot boxes at 6 p.m. So those same boxes from uh the beginning of the day will be opened and you can check that the number
• 05:00 - 05:30 corresponds to uh the number from the morning uh that they're opening the correct boxes. And then we observe the counting of the ballot papers from 6 p.m. Now, postal vote uh ballots are often held at one location in the electorate. Uh as you'd know, many people vote via mail uh these days uh and have done in the past. Uh you can you can go in and scr watch the opening
• 05:30 - 06:00 of postal vote ballots from 400 p.m. Uh but they won't be counting those ballots. So if he you know if boos are covered and you know there's a spare person who can head to the central postal vote count um AEC would have uh notified campaigns and candidates of this already where this is taking place. If not reach out to your divisional returning officer uh and you can go in and watch uh the
• 06:00 - 06:30 opening of postal vote ballots. Uh they won't be counting them at all. Uh but you can go in and you can watch them open it and you may, you know, want to watch a 100 being opened uh and and have a quick straw poll uh while you're in there. Uh however, it is incredibly important that no one communicates the information from the opening of the postal vote ballots prior to 6:00 p.m. So, if you go in and you're there from 4 till 5 uh and you're observing the
• 06:30 - 07:00 postal vote ballots being opened, uh you can watch that. you could take a quick tally of uh what you see, but you cannot communicate that uh to anyone prior to 6:00 p.m. Uh so that's a really important uh thing to note uh this election. Um and when we get to the scrutinizing of the votes, that's the thing I love. Uh I'm one of those people who loves scrutinering and getting out there um and being in the thick of it. uh you can object uh to the admission or
• 07:00 - 07:30 rejection of uh opponent ballot papers and argue the case for for our ballot papers to remain within the count. Just a reminder that the Q&A section of uh this webinar is open and we have a team standing by if you do have any questions as we go through. So to become a scrutiner you will need to have a scrutiner appointment form. There's an example of this on the screen now. All of your ballot boxes will all of your booth
• 07:30 - 08:00 kits, sorry, your booth kits provided by the campaign should have uh one of these in or a few uh and that would have been completed by the candidate before election day signed by the candidate uh so that you can become a scrutiner. So this is a form that says I uh Jared the candidate for um x seat authorize uh Adelaide to be uh my scrutiner at the count. Candidates cannot scrutinize uh
• 08:00 - 08:30 the ballot themselves. So that's why we appoint scrutiners. Uh so if you have any questions about that um please see your booth captain or uh contact your local campaign manager to make sure you have one of these forms. Um now the bottom section which is your section to fill out. So um section B and section C there uh the scrutiny details and the undertaking by the scrutiner. This must
• 08:30 - 09:00 be completed before 6:00 p.m. on election day. So, the best thing to do, I usually grab one of these in the morning when I'm on the booth. I head in to the polling place. Uh, I get it signed, get my scrutinia badge, uh, and have that ready to go and I can use that throughout the day if I'm on the booth all day. Um, one important thing to note obviously uh if you're heading into the booth to to uh you know observe the ballot uh observe the boxes being sealed
• 09:00 - 09:30 or to get your scrutiny form uh submitted to the returning officer. Um you need to do that without any liberal material on. So you can't take uh how to votes in. You can't be wearing a liberal t-shirt. Uh make sure you have plain clothes or turn your t-shirt inside out. So, as I said, you'll need to present your scrutiny appointment form uh to the AEC uh officer in charge of that booth.
• 09:30 - 10:00 Um, we advise to do that before 5:30 uh so that you're well prepared. Um, as mentioned, check to see if you can observe opening of postal votes before 4 p.m. This will be worked out obviously well in advance of the day. Uh the booth kits will include uh pre-signed forms and this is a really important thing. You must ensure that you're physically inside the polling booth with your scrutiner ID ID visible well before 6:00 p.m. when the doors close. So um when we say well before uh
• 10:00 - 10:30 you know 10 minutes before 5 minutes before don't leave it to a couple of minutes before to be racing inside. Um the AEC is quite strict about this. Uh once you're in, you're in. Uh and uh you know, they do close the doors at 6:00 p.m. uh to ensure the integrity of the count. So, make sure you're in there. You can bring a bottle of water with you. Um you know, you may be able to put your bag off to the side. Just keep in mind that you shouldn't have any liberal
• 10:30 - 11:00 materials on you uh while you're while you're there. So once they've opened the ballot boxes on the night and uh they they've uh checked the numbers of the of the polling um polling boxes, they will then sort the ballots. They'll sort the ballots into first preference and they'll count the first preference. So that'll be uh the first step that the uh polling place officials undertake. So,
• 11:00 - 11:30 typically what they'll do is each polling place official, they'll sit around a big table. Uh, each polling place official will start uh just grabbing ballot papers and opening them up, unfolding them, and putting them into the different piles of first preferences. Then they'll um then they'll bundle each. start counting them into um into batches uh and and check
• 11:30 - 12:00 formality as they go through. Then they'll conduct a two candidate preferred count. So this may be between um the Labor opponent, it may be against a teal, it may be uh someone else. So what makes a formal vote? So, a formal vote uh in the House of Representatives, that's that's what we're going to focus on tonight. It must include the number one in the square opposite the name of the candidate indicating first preference and followed
• 12:00 - 12:30 by consecutive numbers without repetition. However, um there's a few caveats to that. The last square may be left blank. So if say there's eight candidates and they've numbered 1 to 7 and there's the eighth box blank that is still a formal vote and numbers can be written as words and Roman numerals. Uh so um sometimes you know people like to go in and use Roman numerals. I remember I
• 12:30 - 13:00 was working on the uh Senate bi-election that was held uh in 2014 in WA and everyone knows the Senate ballot paper. There's there's hundreds of candidates on that. Uh several people decided to go in and vote below the line uh using Roman numerals. So there was a few scrutiners there that had to stand around and um you know with the AEC work out if it was a formal vote. Um so keep an eye out for that. Uh other things to look out for which
• 13:00 - 13:30 makes them informal. So um informal votes uh when you receive your ballot paper, the polling place official that provides it to you will put their initials uh in the in the uh there's a little circle that they put that in. Now if it does not have the initials of uh the person issuing the ballot paper, it is informal. if the voter identifies themselves. Uh so if I vote and I number
• 13:30 - 14:00 every box, it's a formal vote, but then I go down the bottom. Um go Joe, um in Monero, you've got my vote from Jared Lass um in Queenbian. That will be an informal vote. Um because I can be identified as the voter. Now if more than one square is left blank uh that is declared informal. Um ticks and crosses are informal. Um
• 14:00 - 14:30 but that's where they are used together. Uh and the name of the candidate is crossed out. So if they write in different candidates um and they put number one next to that or or within the sequential order then uh that will be an informal vote as well. Now, we're going to practice identifying formal and informal votes shortly. So, uh keep a remember um keep a mind out for what we've just talked about there. Um I should mention as well that there
• 14:30 - 15:00 is some handy resources from the electoral commission that you can access. There is a scrutinous handbook uh that I encourage everyone to have a skim through, have a read through. Uh plus you there's a there's a tool on the AEC website where you can um practice filling in a ballot paper and see whether it's formal or informal. So how to scrutiny? So as I said on the night there will be a a big table maybe a couple of tables. Polling
• 15:00 - 15:30 place officials will sit around uh the table. Um they'll be seated in a chair like this uh and they will start the the process of of counting. Um you can watch that count um but there is a few different rules which we'll which we'll go through uh go through now. So scrutiners so uh candidates are able to have uh as many scrutiners as there are as there are polling place workers
• 15:30 - 16:00 or AEC officials in the room. So, if there's four people counting the ballot paper, you can have four uh scrutiners. That's the rule. We know that uh you may be the only one in your booth. Um you know, if there's four people counting, it's often the case that there'll be one scrutiny for that uh polling place. That is completely fine. Focus your efforts on the votes of your main opponent. So,
• 16:00 - 16:30 that could be Labor in some seats, the teals and and greens in others. So, um when there are challenges to votes, uh that that will go through to um to an informal pile and that will go to the polling place manager and you will have a chance if say a Labor scrutiny and knocks out a Liberal vote to argue the case when that comes back up. But you need to focus on um the votes of your main opponent. Um, if there's a few of you in the room and can spread out and
• 16:30 - 17:00 watch a couple of counters, it's often the case that you'll be standing there and watching two counts go on, um, that is completely fine as well. Uh, when you, uh, see an informal vote, you need to say challenge. So, um, don't be aggressive, be polite, uh, but stand your ground. uh often the polling place uh official or the counter will hold up the ballot paper and look at it and they'll make a determination uh and
• 17:00 - 17:30 they'll say no I think that's say a formal vote if you want it to be challenged further you say challenged they'll put it off in another pile and that'll go to the judgment of the polling place manager there is no point arguing with the county official at the table uh so as it says there um the returning officer will make an assessment on the formality of each challenged ballot. So once that um once that uh formality assessment has taken
• 17:30 - 18:00 place by the returning officer, that decision is made, they'll write on the back, they'll generally have a sticker um that says this was a challenge vote and their determination on there and that'll go back into the count or into the informal vote pile. um when there's recounts, that's obviously when this goes through another process. It's really important that scrutiners cannot uh touch the ballot paper or stand too close to the counters. Uh and do not use your phone
• 18:00 - 18:30 in the proximity of the vote count. You cannot take photos of ballot papers or the count uh ongoing. So, uh keep that in your pocket. I often keep it in my bag. I know it's tempting to look at results. I know it's tempting to see what's going on at other boos or or in other seats. Uh but uh please uh do not get kicked out of the polling place. Um I typically when I go in will ask where I can use my phone or where I can take a call from or just go into the back
• 18:30 - 19:00 corner and um and sort of stand to the wall so I can't be accused of of uh anything that's against the rules when scrutiny. Now, not touching the ballot paper or standing too close uh to a counter is um a really important one. So, I'll demonstrate here. So, counter official will be sitting here. Often times when you're looking at the ballot papers, you're leaning right in sometimes over the
• 19:00 - 19:30 counter. Um if they ask you to move back, please just step back. Um, I often stand there with my hands behind my back, uh, watching with a solid stance, uh, and not leaning too close in because if I say challenge, they'll lift up the ballot paper or you can ask to see that, uh, a bit closer. Um, so, uh, hands behind my back stops me from taking out my phone as well, um, or being accused of that. And equally, not touching the ballot paper is really important. Um, if you touch a ballot paper, um, it's a
• 19:30 - 20:00 it's a big problem. uh you know that it can result in um uh investigations and things like that. Uh I was at a count which was occurring in a big warehouse one time. It was a recount and uh you know it's a contested seat. We were all standing there uh watching the count take place and and doing our role as scrutiners. Uh someone opened a door and a big gust of wind came in. um we all as scrutiners
• 20:00 - 20:30 just took a step back and that's where the hands behind our backs came in really important because all of us went well we didn't touch anything we couldn't have um you know we were standing standing like this um so you know ballot papers flew on to us fell fell down your natural instinct is to go and help the polling place official to pick up that that ballot please don't um they will do it themselves uh please do not do anything unless it's under the instruction ruction of the polling place
• 20:30 - 21:00 manager. So, you can see an example here of someone who did touch a uh a ballot paper. Um, and this was in a contested seat as well. Uh, and an investigation uh took place and um you know, the polling place official had to had to remind everyone of the rules, but it it clearly became a story in that uh seat as well.
• 21:00 - 21:30 So when you're uh you know as we know we're in um uh preferences are distributed from minor parties. So when you're watching the votes for minor parties where you know the vote is going to be distributed. So, for example, uh that of uh the Greens or perhaps One Nation. Look at where the preference flow preference flows the preferences are flowing, sorry, on the ballot before you attempt to knock it out. Uh you know, it's our natural instinct to to
• 21:30 - 22:00 have a look at every ballot uh that's not ours as um something we need to scrutinize closely. But if our um if we're put ahead of uh Labor uh or you know and vice versa, you know, use your judgment there. Um you know, not everyone follows a a uh a how to vote card. Uh so, uh don't fight to knock out votes that are eventually making their
• 22:00 - 22:30 way to us is essentially our tip there. Make sure that you're um you know scrutinizing and arguing those informal votes for the votes of our own. So, um, other things to note when you're when you're, uh, scrutinering, uh, so once they finished the first preference, count, um, and we'll talk about what to do when that happens, but after that, the, uh, polling place officials will start
• 22:30 - 23:00 moving, uh, the the votes to preference piles. Um, note where they're being moved to. So often they'll lay out numbers with the candidate names on uh and they'll start pushing ballot papers into each of those. Make sure they're going into the right piles. So make sure all the Liberal ones are going into the Liberal pile. Make sure all the uh Labor ones are going into the Labor pile and so on. Um when they're counting the ballots as well. So they'll check for formality first. Then they'll count all of the
• 23:00 - 23:30 ballots. Count with them. Um, you know, you can always ask to check a a bundle. Uh, you there's been instances in the past where uh bundles of 100 have actually had 90 votes in and vice versa. It's really important uh that uh you know we're watching and and acutely aware of these. So, um if there's more than one of you in a booth, appoint one person as a scrutiner captain. uh that might be
• 23:30 - 24:00 the most experienced scrutiny scrutiny you have uh because that person will then be the one to oversee ballot challenges. Um you may have said challenge um you know you may have said challenge and it's been put aside but you thought oh you know in hindsight it may not have been or you know I should have done that or this. Don't worry about it. They'll be checking them all uh together and the polling place manager there will call together a representative of both sides to go through each of the challenge votes and
• 24:00 - 24:30 make a determination. Uh as I said before, don't get into fights with the people undertaking the count. If you have a captain or if that's you, uh discuss or challenge any concerns with the AEC officer in charge of that booth. So once they have the first preference count uh totaled then they will typically write this up on a board or they'll fill in a a sheet that they have the AC that is um please message that
• 24:30 - 25:00 through uh to your local campaign team as soon as it's known. Uh so there'll be a scrutiny uh tally sheet in your booth kit and I'll show you an example of that in the next slide. Um, once that is uh finalized, take a photo of that. You know, you'll have your tally sheet, as I said, moved to the side, take a photo of it, or ask the polling place official if you can take a photo of theirs. Um, they'll often say no, but in some
• 25:00 - 25:30 instances, I've had them say yes. Uh, don't argue once that's that that's their decision. Uh, take a photo or send a message through to your local campaign team as soon as it's known. Don't wait for the two party preferred. So, there's two stages to calling in results or sending photos of the results through on your tally sheet. That's once we finished the first preference count. And then once we've done the two candidate preferred or two party preferred results afterwards. Um, so that's just a
• 25:30 - 26:00 reminder there as well. Please do not take photos of the ballots. Now, this is incredibly important because the AEC doesn't um you know, you might be getting information quicker to us uh than the AEC might be. So, local campaigns will have one person that you send this all through through to have a spreadsheet that they'll be entering this into that's linked through to us and and to our team. So, uh, uh, get
• 26:00 - 26:30 that information through as quick as possible because, uh, that will be incredibly important on the night in terms of determining, you know, what's happening at Booths and and, um, and where the vote may be going. So, as I said, there'll be a tally sheet in uh, your booth kit. Uh, this is an example on the screen. It's a little bit different to uh the one that's been provided this campaign to um
• 26:30 - 27:00 to candidates and and campaign team. So it may look a little bit different. Um but uh simply being it'll be primary vote and then what preferences go to Liberal or Labor or the Teal uh and then the final two party preferred count as declared at the end. Um our focus on the night is uh the House of Representatives. Uh Senate votes are essentially counted in the weeks after an election. Uh and the result may take
• 27:00 - 27:30 a while to come through. Um you for example with the Senate uh Brun Bishop when she was a senator um uh was uh had to wait 10 weeks uh to be told of her election uh in 1987. So uh we don't count the Senate on the night. uh it's it's h house of representatives. So some underlying rules uh that the AC use to determine formality but also within the count. The
• 27:30 - 28:00 AC will assume that the voter has intended to vote formally. So they'll assume that every single person that casts a ballot wants to vote in the election and to cast a formal vote. So when you apply that lens over it um around checking formality and informality um it it bring yourself back to that uh they will try to establish the intention of the voter and then give effect to that
• 28:00 - 28:30 intention. Uh so when you're interpreting markings on the ballot paper and when they interpret markings on the ballot paper uh that will be considered in line with upholding the intent of the voter. So the AEC will er in favor of the voters's intention um in a situation where the voter has intended to vote formally. So just a reminder that the
• 28:30 - 29:00 Q&A function is open if you do have any questions as we go along. Uh the AEC as well will only have regard to what is written on the ballot paper. So the AC will not assume what the voter was trying to do if it's not clear. So the ballot paper will be looked at um and won't make assumptions about what is not on the ballot paper if that makes sense. Uh so they will assess the ballot paper as a whole by
• 29:00 - 29:30 considering the numbers in each square as one in a series not as an isolated number. So for example, a polyiform number may be recognizable as one missing from the series. Uh and you often get this with sevens and ones um nines and sevens. Uh it will be considered as part of the sequence rather than the individual number itself. So now we get into the fun part
• 29:30 - 30:00 here. We're going to have some example ballot papers come up. uh you'll have a quiz that pops up and uh you'll be asked whether the vote is formal or informal. Uh so this will pop up at the same time for everyone. You can fill it in uh when you want. Uh there's no um timing on it. Uh I will talk through each of the ballot papers. Uh and then at the end we'll we'll reveal whether it's formal
• 30:00 - 30:30 or not. So we are launching that poll now. Uh so you should see that on your screen. Uh we now have two ballot papers in front of us. Um one on the left, one on the right. Uh we need to determine if these are formal or not. So, in this instance, a polling place official has altered a
• 30:30 - 31:00 ballot paper. Uh, so you'll see here they crossed out the the name of the division, put in a new one, and changed the numbers here. Uh, changed the names and parties, sorry. Uh, and on this one, you can see, uh, they've numbered 1 2 3 4. There's four candidates here. on this one numbered 1 2 3 4 uh and there's one one missing. So I'll give you a moment to
• 31:00 - 31:30 see whether uh you can pick whether these are formal or informal. We've got a lot of people saying that they're both informal. Cast your votes now. It will tell you whether you've made the right decision or not and then we'll reveal the answers. So, I'll give you 10 seconds to cast your votes there and we're going to reveal the
• 31:30 - 32:00 results. Now, we have a formal ballot on the left hand side and an informal one on the right hand side. Now, a lot of people said that this first ballot was informal and I can understand why. uh it's not the ballot paper itself. Um you know it's a different division. Uh it's um it looks completely different. However, polling place officials can
• 32:00 - 32:30 alter a ball ballot paper uh to give effect to someone's vote from a different electorate. So a bit of a tip here. When this happens, we're still checking for Melody. Um, you can see here we've got 1 2 3 4 uh and all of the uh all of the candidates by last name. Uh on the right here, we've got 1 2 3 4. It's formal by numbers, but we're missing a candidate here. So, this is where you go to the
• 32:30 - 33:00 booth kit or or have uh there um and uh check out your statewide how to vote um and check that those ballot papers are correct. Now, typically these will be um you know counted separately and we don't have to worry. It's a bit of a quirky one to start off um our quiz here. Um I'll share the results with everyone. So, I hope everyone can see that. Um, and I'm showing you the
• 33:00 - 33:30 correct answers now. Okay. So, go to the next one here. I'll launch that for you. So, we've got two ballots here on one side. Check the formality. Check everything going on. You can cast your vote now. Um, on the left hand side it says I
• 33:30 - 34:00 voted for you, Goron Tweed. On the right hand side, GP votes for you. It looks like we've got eight candidates each of these. So, have a look. Cast your votes now. This one seems very mixed for people. We'll give it another another 10
• 34:00 - 34:30 seconds or so. Remember, this is where we talked earlier about people identifying themselves as a voter versus not. Now, I'm going to end that poll there. I'm going to share the results with everyone. So you can see here majority of people got that correct. The the one on the left hand side there is
• 34:30 - 35:00 informal. So they've got their full name Goron Tweed. Um the one on the right hand side is formal. So all the numbers are correct. You've got the initials in the corner. Um you've got this GP votes for you. Now, um unless you know GP and know their handwriting, uh it's a bit difficult to identify who GP might be, uh the polling place official in this instance would consider that ballot uh
• 35:00 - 35:30 formal. All right, we'll go to the next one here now. Now, we've got a situation here where they've where they've filled out the ballot paper and there's some overwriting going
• 35:30 - 36:00 on. So, you can start voting after you've had a look at that or start filling that out. Um you've got on the far left hand side here um you've got eight candidates. Again, remember when we're we're looking at the voters's intention. So we're looking at the sequence of numbers. You might have a one here. It's a line and follow it through. This looks
• 36:00 - 36:30 like it was a three. This was an eight perhaps. In the middle here, you've got it looks like maybe a three and a four were swapped around potentially. Um, and on the end here, looks like one's crossed out. I'm not sure we have the full sequence there. Although, I mean,
• 36:30 - 37:00 it should be a seven, right? if we're if we're going through sequentially, but whether they added the seven before or after, that might be a little confusing. So, I'll give people another 10 seconds there. I'll end that there. And the majority of you got that
• 37:00 - 37:30 right. The last one on the end threw some people. Uh the first one is formal. Uh you can see here there is clearly a one uh two 3 4 5 6 7 and 8. Um even though they're scratched out, there are replacement numbers there within the sequence. So remember they're looking at the whole ballot paper. Over on the center you've got one, two. Now, we talked before this
• 37:30 - 38:00 could be, you know, it looks like they've swapped these numbers around, but the darker line there is definitely a three, four, 5, 6, 7, 8. So, that's formal. Now, this one here, um, majority of you got that right as an informal uh, ballot. Now, it's informal because um, you can you can kind of make out a seven, but you can't tell if the cross came in after or before. Um whereas the center ballots here it's quite clear um
• 38:00 - 38:30 the intention of those votes. Um this one here not so clear. Um now if this was um a liberal ballot and you could make out that seven a bit um a bit firmer than what it is on the screen here, I'd probably be arguing that that is clearly a seven um in the sequence of votes there. Uh but it is a bit ambiguous. So we'll jump into another one
• 38:30 - 39:00 now. Watch that. Now you can see here we've got some different sets of numbering. Um you've got this one over here where one is written out as one, two is written out as two. Um in this one here you've got a what looks to be a tick. Um, this one at the end on the right,
• 39:00 - 39:30 you've got an A. You've also got a one, got an E in there. If you're counting through the alphabet, A, B, C, D, E, might be a five potentially, but remember, it needs to be a full sequence there. So, cast your vote for this one. remember where the AEC will um try to uphold the voters's intention, but they do have a couple of quirky rules around
• 39:30 - 40:00 that as we talked about. So, might end the poll in a in a couple of seconds. Okay, I'm going to end that poll now. We're going to see the
• 40:00 - 40:30 results. So, you can see there it's a formal ballot. Everyone got that? Uh, and then two informal ballots there. So, this one that's formal. You can see clearly it's sequential. We've said before that they can write out the numbers. So, we've got 1 2 uh 3 4 5 6 7 8. So, that's a formal vote. Now, this one in the middle is a
• 40:30 - 41:00 tricky one. Um because if we're looking at the sequence uh you you can tell that there's a one missing, right? And typically a tick, you know, could indicate uh that that is the preferred preference. Same with an X. However, remember our rules from before. No ticks or crosses. So that is a tick. I don't think you could convince anyone that that's a one. Um, and so that becomes an informal vote
• 41:00 - 41:30 even though the rest of the sequence is correct. Uh, and this one obviously is clearly an informal vote. You've got an A, you've got a one, got a three, you got an E. Um, you know, uh, the A here and a one, you know, you you wouldn't be able to argue that they're um, sequential at all. Remember, we said E, you know, is fifth in the alphabet. um you know there is a five missing but you've still got the two um initial starting points there. So um I think
• 41:30 - 42:00 almost almost 100% of people got that one correct as an informal vote. Okay, moving on to some blank boxes here. So on the left hand side here uh you've got a blank box. Um although there's a bit of a dot in here, but remember you can leave the last box blank. So keep that in mind. Um
• 42:00 - 42:30 although they do look at all markings within a ballot paper. And then on the right hand side here, you've got yeah two boxes blank. So, if we're looking at the sequence, we got 1 2 3 4 5 6. This is a real tricky one. Give
• 42:30 - 43:00 people moment there. Looking at blank boxes and whether they're formal or not. I'm gonna end the poll. This is a tricky one. They're both informal. So, why is this one informal, do we think? Now, a blank box is allowed at the end. Remember, the AC's got these
• 43:00 - 43:30 little quirks about them. That box is not blank. There's a there's a marking there. Now, um, one would argue, and I, if this was a liberal ballot, I would certainly be arguing that, um, it is clear that, uh, the voter intent is sequential and it's probably just a smudge rather than a mark. Uh, and that vote should be counted as formal. However, the AEC will likely rule that that is an informal vote. Now, the one on the um right hand side there um is absolutely informal.
• 43:30 - 44:00 Um, majority of people got that right. Even though looking at the sequence, you're only allowed one blank box and that's at the end. So, if they had written a seven in this box, then this would be a formal vote. Uh, but because they've left two boxes blank, uh, it's an informal vote. So, there are some tricky quirks to some of these. Now, this one here, uh, is
• 44:00 - 44:30 another fun one. formal or informal. We've got different ways of numbering. Um you've got uh this one here uh where uh you know going through there is a mark here um that you can look at on the right hand side. The numbers aren't in the boxes but they may be in sequence. So I'll give people a moment to think about that one.
• 44:30 - 45:00 It is a bit more of a tricky one. Now, we're getting some questions whether this is a common occurrence. Um, some boots absolutely not. Um, you know, it's pretty straightforward. Uh, particularly some of the smaller boots. Um, other boots there'll be lots of boats like this. Um, it is hard to tell sometimes. Uh, but just do your best on the night. So, I'll leave that for another another
• 45:00 - 45:30 10 seconds or so. Okay, I'm going to close this poll off. They are both formal votes. So, let's talk about this one because I'll share the results here. You can see most people answered that the first first ballot there was informal
• 45:30 - 46:00 and I can see absolutely why right um all the uh numbers are in sequence well until you get to a seven or eight there's a marking here um it's outside the box it's inconsistent with the um with the style that the voter has had but remember they are assuming and we are all to assume that the voter intend intended to cast a formal vote and that it's in sequence. Now, by the shape of
• 46:00 - 46:30 this, it is arguably a seven. So, remember, we don't assume what's not there. So, me assuming that it should be written in the same style as everything as every other number is not on the ballot paper. I can't tell that. If we're looking at the sequence here, 1 2 3 4 5 6, the missing number is seven. Now, that form is arguably a seven. Now,
• 46:30 - 47:00 remember though, um if this is a vote for us, we won't be arguing um we'll be arguing that that's definitely a seven. Um and uh if it's not, then you know, we might challenge it. and um and get a ruling on that. The one on the right hand side there uh even though and most people got this one correct as a formal vote. Even though the numbers are not in the box
• 47:00 - 47:30 boxes, remember uh they will look at an entire ballot paper and assume that the voter um intended to cast a formal vote. So going through this with formality and and checking the sequence, we've got a 1 2 3 4 5 6 78. That will be a formal vote. It's in the it's next to the candidates. It's in the same sequence.
• 47:30 - 48:00 You can't um you know presume that this two is allocated to this one and further on. Um it's quite clear that this would be a a formal vote. Um some of these are quite tricky and yes, I saw a question pop up that um it says number the boxes. Um but remember we're looking at the entire ballot paper here and assuming that the voter wants to cast a formal vote. Now if say um hypothetically speaking this
• 48:00 - 48:30 four here was further down and touching uh this one and this six was further down touching this this name. I would absolutely be arguing that that is an informal vote. So go on to our next one here. Sorry. Launch this one. So, another numbering one
• 48:30 - 49:00 here. So, you can see these are quite different ballot papers. Um, we've got one on the side here where, you know, if we're looking at this going in sequence, we we might say, "Oh, that would be maybe a seven." Um, but let's pick up the sequence. We've got a 2 3 4 5 6 7 8.
• 49:00 - 49:30 Well, if the voters's intent is to be upheld, that may be a one, but again, you know, it's very close to a seven. Uh, you've got over here 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 circles. You know, could that be an eight? Could it be a zero? Give people a few moments to have a look at
• 49:30 - 50:00 that. Last call for votes on whether that's all. And we're going to end that poll now. and reveal the results. Looks pretty unanimous here around um what people think. Um you're all
• 50:00 - 50:30 correct that or majority of you are correct. Uh that is a they're both formal votes. So um I'll go to the one on the right first. That is look it's a circle on top of a circle. They may that's how they form that eight. We're looking at the full sequence. uh we're expecting an eight to be in that box to complete the sequence. Um if say this circle was was further away or it was a solid circle, you know, you may argue that that's a zero. Now coming over
• 50:30 - 51:00 here, um if we're looking at the voters's intent, that is clearly a well-formed seven. Um that will be interpreted as a one. So, um, they're both formal votes. And we're going on to our last one now for you to practice on, which is about writings. So,
• 51:00 - 51:30 um, you can see Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse are getting a run this election. Uh some people like to uh put all sorts of names on ballot papers. Uh remember we are looking to uphold the intent of the voter uh and assume that they wanted to vote formally. So we've got one here where Donald Duck is placed in another box as number nine. got here where candidates
• 51:30 - 52:00 names are crossed out and substituted for uh Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. And you've got one here where Donald Duck is placed next to a box with the number one next to it. So remember, we're looking at the sequence of votes here and assuming that uh people intended to make a formal vote within the instructions given. Of
• 52:00 - 52:30 course. Give people a little bit more time with that one. Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. Give five more seconds. Cast those last votes. End the poll there.
• 52:30 - 53:00 So, we've got a formal vote and two informal votes. Now, this vote here with Donald Duck on number nine is formal because they have cast a formal vote 1 through 8 as instructed on the ballot paper. Um, the ninth vote there does not exist uh because there are only eight candidates and they have sequentially done that there. Now, this one's informal because
• 53:00 - 53:30 they've actually crossed out names of existing candidates and put other candidates in there. So, even though it's seven and eight and you know, you may want to argue that we should be counting the vote if this is one for the Liberals and it's not going to be um preferenced out. Um uh that will be an informal vote. And then of course here most people got this one correct because um it is an informal vote. They can't vote number one for
• 53:30 - 54:00 Donald Duck because Donald Duck is not on the ballot paper. Um as much as you may think some candidates are um Donald Duck, uh they are not a candidate at this election. So that will be an informal vote. Now as I mentioned there is a scrutinous handbook. All of the examples uh that uh were on the screen tonight came out of here. Uh and there's more rationale um in there if you wanted to
• 54:00 - 54:30 read up on it. Um there's more examples, more um you know, rules and things like that. Um please uh have a look at that um before scrutinering. Um you don't need to know it back to front uh like me and other people. Um but uh please uh have a have a quick look through should you want to have a practice. There's also a practice voting uh measure online at aec.gov.auu.
• 54:30 - 55:00 Um some key takeaways from tonight uh looking back. Be on time. uh get your scrutinia uh appointment form in uh and and then uh be inside the booth prior to 6 p.m. Be prepared to help us win in that respectful way. Argue the case but politely. Um challenge votes that are informal that may be going and being counted. Um often times when an informal
• 55:00 - 55:30 vote comes up the counter will be looking at it and will will show scrutiners as well uh and put it down. Um you know have a look at the AEC um uh handbook uh which is available on the A website. Um have a chat to experience scrutiners out there as well. There are so many experienced scrutiners here in New South Wales uh and in many campaigns. So, um please um have a chat to them uh if you do have any questions
• 55:30 - 56:00 or send us um questions at chq chw.liberal.org.auu. Um we're going to leave it there. We'll leave the the chat open. Um thank you all for attending the webinar tonight. Uh we are almost there. It's only a couple more days till the election. Uh and I know everything everyone is doing uh so many hours uh and working so incredibly hard to ensure
• 56:00 - 56:30 that uh we get Australia back on track because as we know we can't afford three more years of labor. Uh as I said I'll keep the Q&A open for a few more minutes at the end. Uh but thank you all so much. We hope uh you found this valuable. Even if you've scrutined uh a hundred times or this is your first time scrutinering, uh we hope you got something out of it. Uh so thank you. Good night. Uh and all the best scrutinering. Authorized by Sea Strand Liberal Sydney.