Inquiry Into the Conduct of the 2014 Victorian State Election
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PARLIAMENT OF VICTORIA Electoral Matters Committee Inquiry into the conduct of the 2014 Victorian state election Parliament of Victoria Electoral Matters Committee Ordered to be published VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTER May 2016 PP No 150, Session 2014‑16 ISBN 978 1 925458 32 9 (print version) 978 1 925458 33 6 (PDF version) Committee functions The Electoral Matters Committee is constituted under section 9A of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003. The committee’s functions are to inquire into, consider and report to the Parliament on any proposal, matter or thing concerned with: a. the conduct of parliamentary elections and referendums in Victoria; b. the conduct of elections of Councillors under the Local Government Act 1989; and c. the administration of, or practices associated with, the Electoral Act 2002 and any other law relating to electoral matters. Committee membership Hon Louise Asher MP Ms Ros Spence MP Chair Deputy Chair Brighton Yuroke Ms Lizzie Blandthorn MP Hon Martin Dixon MP Hon Russell Northe MP Pascoe Vale Nepean Morwell Ms Fiona Patten MLC Hon Adem Somyurek MLC Northern Metropolitan South‑Eastern Metropolitan Inquiry into the conduct of the 2014 Victorian state election iii Committee secretariat Staff Mark Roberts, Executive Officer Nathaniel Reader, Research Officer Bernadette Pendergast, Committee Administration Officer, Mondays and Tuesdays Maria Marasco, Committee Administration Officer, Wednesdays and Thursdays Committee contact details Address Electoral Matters Committee Parliament House, Spring Street EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002 Phone 61 3 8682 2885 Email [email protected] Web www.parliament.vic.gov.au/emc This report is also available online at the Committee’s website. iv Electoral Matters Committee Contents Preliminaries Committee functions ii Committee membership iii Committee secretariat iv Terms of reference ix Chair’s foreword xi Abbreviations xiii Findings and Recommendations xv Review of recommendations from the inquiry into the conduct of the 2010 Victorian state election xix 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Terms of reference 1 1.2 Responsibilities of the Electoral Matters Committee 1 1.3 The Electoral Matters Committee’s previous inquiries 1 1.4 Inquiry process 2 1.4.1 Submissions 4 1.4.2 Public hearings 5 1.4.3 Briefings 6 1.4.4 Site visits 6 1.5 By‑elections 7 1.6 Data analysis 7 1.7 Report outline 8 2 Background to the 2014 Victorian state election 5 2.1 Election summary 6 2.1.1 Date and fixed terms 6 2.1.2 Legislative changes 6 2.1.3 Timeline 7 2.1.4 Summary of results 8 2.2 Victoria’s electoral system 9 2.2.1 2013 report on redivision of Victoria’s electoral boundaries – Electoral Boundaries Commission (EBC) 10 2.3 Trends in Victorian electoral participation 12 2.3.1 Voter turnout 12 2.3.2 Informal voting 16 2.3.3 Electoral enrolment 20 Inquiry into the conduct of the 2014 Victorian state election v Contents 3 Early voting at the 2014 Victorian state election 23 3.1 Definition of early voting 24 3.2 Legislation – early voting in person 25 3.3 Administrative arrangements 25 3.3.1 Early voting centres 25 3.3.2 Early voting period 26 3.4 Impact of early voting on Victorian elections 27 3.5 Incidence of early voting at the 2014 Victorian state election 28 3.6 Incidence of early voting at Victorian by‑elections since 2015 32 3.7 Matters raised during the inquiry related to early voting 33 3.7.1 Length of the early voting period at Victorian state elections 33 3.7.2 Length of early voting period at Victorian by‑elections 35 3.7.3 Counting of early votes 37 3.7.4 Close of the roll and commencement of early voting 41 3.7.5 Location of early voting centres 43 3.7.6 Queueing at early voting centres 44 3.7.7 Efficacy of s98 of theElectoral Act 2002 (Vic) 45 3.7.8 The use and availability of non‑remote electronic voting kiosks at early voting centres, and remote voting kiosks 47 3.7.9 Postal voting, focusing on the administrative procedures to apply for a postal vote 49 4 Methods of voting for the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly 55 4.1 History of Upper House voting practices in Victoria 56 4.1.1 Proportional representation 58 4.1.2 Quota 58 4.1.3 Group voting tickets 59 4.1.4 Duverger’s law – multipartyism 59 4.2 Recent developments in Senate voting reform 60 4.2.1 2013 Senate election 60 4.2.2 Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters – interim report on the 2013 federal election, Senate voting practices 63 4.2.3 Xenophon bill 64 4.2.4 Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Bill 2016 (Cwth) 65 4.3 Victorian Legislative Council – how voting works 65 4.3.1 Voting 65 4.3.2 Summary of results, 2014 state election – Legislative Council 71 4.3.3 Registration of political parties 74 4.4 Evidence from inquiry participants 75 4.4.1 Legislative Council voting practices 75 4.4.2 Group voting tickets 80 4.4.3 Thresholds 81 4.4.4 Registration of political parties 84 vi Electoral Matters Committee Contents 4.4.5 References to ‘ungrouped’ candidates on Legislative Councilballot paper 87 4.4.6 Procedures for ascertaining the number of votes for a Legislative Council candidate 87 4.5 History of Legislative Assembly voting practices 91 4.6 Legislative Assembly – how voting works 91 4.6.1 Preferential voting 92 4.7 Preferential voting in other Australian jurisdictions 92 4.7.1 Optional preferential voting 92 4.7.2 New South Wales 92 4.7.3 Queensland 95 4.7.4 South Australia 96 4.7.5 Northern Territory 97 4.8 Results of 2014 Victorian state election – Legislative Assembly 97 4.8.1 Comparison with previous Victorian state elections 98 4.9 Evidence from inquiry participants 98 5 Community engagement with electoral processes 101 5.1 Definition of community engagement 102 5.2 The VEC’s community engagement activities for the 2014 Victorian state election 102 5.2.1 Driving Votes 103 5.2.2 Engagement with Indigenous Victorians 104 5.2.3 People experiencing homelessness 104 5.2.4 CALD communities 105 5.2.5 Victorians with disabilities 106 5.2.6 Young people 108 5.3 Evidence from inquiry participants 110 5.3.1 Accessibility of voting centres 110 5.3.2 Election Day voting centres 111 5.3.3 Early voting ‘supercentres’ 112 5.3.4 Provision of electoral information from political parties in accessible formats 113 5.3.5 Evidence about CALD communities and electoral engagement 114 5.3.6 Victorians living in residential care facilities 115 5.3.7 Engaging Victorians on Election Night 116 6 Political campaigning at the 2014 Victorian state election 119 6.1 Definition of political campaigning 120 6.1.1 Voting centres 121 6.1.2 Effect of compulsory voting on Australia’s electoral dynamic 122 6.2 Legislative framework for campaigning at voting centres in Victoria 122 6.2.1 Electoral Act 2002 (Vic) 122 6.2.2 Commonwealth legislation 127 6.2.3 Case and Common law 127 6.2.4 Conduct near voting centres in Victoria 129 Inquiry into the conduct of the 2014 Victorian state election vii Contents 6.3 Non‑legislative regulatory frameworks for campaigning at voting centres at Victorian state elections 130 6.4 Previous work by the Electoral Matters Committee relating to Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2002 (Vic) 132 6.4.1 Inquiry into whether the provisions of the Electoral Act 2002 (Vic) should be amended to make better provision for misleading or deceptive electoral content 132 6.4.2 Inquiry into the impact of social media on Victoria’s electoral administration 133 6.5 Recent developments in campaigning at voting centres in other Australian jurisdictions 133 6.5.1 Commonwealth JSCEM inquiry into campaigning at voting centres 134 6.5.2 Northern Territory – 2016 electoral amendments 134 6.6 Complaints received by the VEC about election material and behaviour at voting centres – 2014 Victorian state election 135 6.7 Evidence from inquiry participants 136 6.7.1 How‑to‑vote cards 136 6.7.2 The conduct of campaign workers and party representatives at voting centres 140 6.7.3 The responsibilities and training of Election Managers 150 6.7.4 Discussion about the regulation of deceptive and misleading electoral material and conduct in Victoria 153 7 Evaluation of the 2014 Victorian state election’s electoral administration, and the Victorian Electoral Commission 157 7.1 VEC’s election evaluation activities 158 7.2 Political parties and candidates 158 7.3 Electors 159 7.4 Victorian Auditor‑General’s performance audit of the VEC, 2015/16 160 7.5 Ballot paper security at the 2014 Victorian state election 163 7.5.1 VEC’s response 164 Appendices 1 List of submissions 167 2 Public Hearings 169 3 Interstate and international investigations 171 4 Electoral Matters Committee reports and discussion papers 175 Extract from the minutes of proceedings 177 Minority Report 179 viii Electoral Matters Committee Terms of reference Inquiry into the conduct of the 2014 Victorian state election Received from the Legislative Assembly on 5 May 2015: To the Electoral Matters Committee — for inquiry, consideration and report no later than 1 December 2015* an inquiry into the conduct of the 2014 Victorian State Election. * Reporting date subsequently amended on 6 October 2015 from 1 December 2015 to 30 April 2016. Inquiry into the conduct of the 2014 Victorian state election ix Chair’s foreword I am pleased to present to the Victorian Parliament the Electoral Matters Committee’s ‘Inquiry into the conduct of the 2014 Victorian State election.’ The Electoral Matters Committee receives a reference from the Government after every state election to enquire into the conduct of the previous election.