STATE GENERAL ELECTION Held on Saturday 31 January 2015 Evaluation Report and Statistical Return 2015 State General Election Evaluation Report and Statistical Return Electoral Commission of Queensland ABN: 69 195 695 244 ISBN No. 978-0-7242-6868-9 © Electoral Commission of Queensland 2015 Published by the Electoral Commission of Queensland, October 2015. The Electoral Commission of Queensland has no objection to this material being reproduced, made available online or electronically but only if it is recognised as the owner of the copyright and this material remains unaltered. Copyright enquiries about this publication should be directed to the Electoral Commission of Queensland, by email or in writing: EMAIL [email protected] POST GPO Box 1393, BRISBANE QLD 4001 CONTENTS Page No. Part 1: Foreword ..........................................................................................1 Part 2: Conduct of the Election ....................................................................5 Part 3: Electoral Innovation .......................................................................17 Part 4: Improvement Opportunities............................................................25 Part 5: Statistical Returns ..........................................................................31 Part 6: Ballot Paper Survey .....................................................................483 PART 1 FOREWORD 1 2 PART 1: FOREWORD Foreword The Electoral Commission of Queensland is an independent body charged with responsibility for the impartial conduct of Queensland parliamentary elections. The State general election held on 31 January 2015 was the ninth conducted by the Commission since its establishment in 1992. In the absence of fixed term elections, the Commission normally has no advance notice of when the election will be held. In this instance, the then Premier of Queensland announced the date of the election on Tuesday 6 January 2015 during the school holiday period. Voter turnout decreased from 91% in 2012 to 89.89% at this election primarily as a result of the timing of the election. In addition, some administrative difficulty was experienced in confirming polling booth bookings at schools due to closure during January. Since the 2012 State general election, the Commission has worked hard to encourage and assist all Queenslanders to participate in Queensland elections. I am especially proud of the number of new innovations introduced with the goal of making it easier for all electors to cast an independent vote. Telephone voting was made available to blind and low vision electors for the first time at a Queensland election. The number of All District Centres was increased from five at the 2012 State election to eight at January’s State election with the provincial centres of Cairns, Mackay and Bundaberg being included for the first time. eAssist terminals, which provided a mechanism for an independent and secret vote to electors with visual impairment, were installed at all eight All District Centres and at Vision Australia’s head office at Coorparoo. At this election, the use of Electronic Certified Lists (ECLs) were piloted at theAll District Centres and in all polling booths across South-East Queensland with almost 800,000 marks captured by these devices. The absence of queues at polling booths and the positive comments received from electors that the Commission was delivering a more modernised approach to voting was encouraging for the future of elections in Queensland. Finally, I would like to thank the staff of the Commission for their commitment and professionalism in the successful administration of this major electoral event. My thanks also extend to the 10,114 Queenslanders who worked for the Commission across the state at our 1,671 polling booths and pre-poll centres. Walter van der Merwe Electoral Commissioner 3 4 PART 2 CONDUCT OF THE ELECTION 5 6 PART 2: CONDUCT OF THE ELECTION Conduct of the election Election snapshot Electoral districts 89 Total number of candidates 433 Enrolled electors 2,981,145 Votes counted 2,679,874 Polling places: Polling Booths 1,671 Declared Institutions 586 Pre-Poll Centres 183 Employed election staff 10,114 Cost: Cost of election operations $24.075 million Public funding for candidates and parties $14.745 million Election Timetable The chain of electoral events was triggered by the issue of the writ on Tuesday 6 January 2015. The first key event was the process of voter registration – everyAustralian citizen aged 18 and over is required to enrol to vote. In previous elections, once the writ was issued, electors had a period of five days in which to enrol or to update their enrolment details. Following recent amendments to the Electoral Act 1992, for the 2015 State election electors had up until the day before polling day to enrol for their current address. The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) provided assistance with the processing of these enrolments and the production of roll data on the eve of the election. Nominations for candidates closed on Tuesday 13 January 2015. Unlike federal elections (where a 24 hour processing period is allowed after the close of nominations), at a State election the Commission’s Returning Officers are required to conduct the draw for ballot paper positions immediately. Electors unable to attend a polling booth on polling day had the option of voting beforehand at a pre-poll centre (which for this election commenced on Monday 19 January 2015). Once the ballot paper draw was completed, the Commission had to begin printing ballot papers immediately in order to meet this deadline. 7 PART 2: CONDUCT OF THE ELECTION Polling day for the 2015 election was Saturday 31 January 2015, 26 days after the issue of the writ. Although the elector’s involvement ceased at that point, electoral officials were required to continue counting votes for a period of 10 days after polling day to allow for the return of postal votes, as well as conducting a full preference count. Results in a number of electorates could not be declared until a full preference count was concluded. The result of the General election was formally communicated to the Governor on Monday 16 February 2015. Key dates Issue of writ Tuesday 6 January Close of roll 5:00 pm Saturday 10 January Close of nominations 12:00 noon Tuesday 13 January Pre-poll voting Start: Monday 19 January End: 6:00 pm Friday 30 January Electoral visitor voting Start: Wednesday 14 January End: 6:00 pm Saturday 31 January Declared Institution voting Start: Tuesday 20 January End: 6:00 pm Saturday 31 January Cut-off for lodgement of How-to-Vote 5:00pm Friday 23 January Cards to be distributed on polling day Cut off for postal vote applications 6.00 pm Thursday 29 January Polling day 8.00am - 6:00pm Saturday 31 January Cut-off for return of postal ballot papers 6:00pm Tuesday 10 February Deadline return writ Monday 23 February 8 PART 2: CONDUCT OF THE ELECTION Election costs The Commission receives a budget appropriation for the conduct of State elections. The overall cost of the 2015 election was $24.075 million compared with an initial estimate of $19.859 million. The expenditure was higher than anticipated due to the pilot of electronic certified lists, the timing of polling day, additional compliance costs resulting from the Keelty report and legislative reform and changes that were made to internal processes (e.g. Proof of Identity training). A full outline of the Commission’s election expenditure for the State general election is set out in the following table. Item Actual Item expenditure as at 30 June 2015 Staff & Related Payments $7,470,115 Pre-poll Voting $322,683 Scanning Operations $111,913 Electronic Certified Lists $2,247,106 Call Centre $531,687 Postal Services $934,570 Returning Officer Costs $4,358,447 Media/Advertising Campaigns $891,252 Election Operating Costs $4,577,851 Printing $1,476,576 Courier Costs $715,979 Training $436,763 TOTAL $24,074,942 In addition to operational costs, the cost of election funding for political parties and candidates was $14.056 million ($11.056 million in election funding claims and $3 million in policy development payments). 9 PART 2: CONDUCT OF THE ELECTION Communications strategy As in the 2012 election, a Voter Information letter was again sent to each enrolled elector advising them of their obligation to vote, the electoral district they were enrolled in, their voting options and the location of polling booths in their area. The letter incorporated a small tear off slip with a unique number and barcode for each elector, making it quicker and easier to mark them off the electoral roll and issue the correct ballot paper. At polling booths and pre-poll centres equipped with electronic certified lists, the barcode on the letter was scanned and the elector’s identity verified prior to the issue of a ballot paper. The letter also served a dual purpose of being one of the acceptable forms of proof of identity legislated prior to the election. In addition, the Commission implemented a multi-faceted communications strategy for the 2015 State general election. Communication included the “Let’s hear it Queensland” advertising campaign, which was part of a larger public awareness initiative, and a media relations program. Advertising included traditional media such as television, radio and print media and also incorporated an innovative digital and social media component for the first time in a Queensland election. The Commission proactively issued media releases around key dates in the electoral cycle, and Commission staff were available for media interviews upon request. Elector enquiries At each election the Commission receives a huge volume of enquiries from members of the public, typically wishing to check their enrolment details, voting options or the location of polling booths in their electoral district. For this election, the Commission’s call centre to handle such enquiries was located and managed in-house (a considerable saving compared with 2012 when it was outsourced). Casual enquiry staff were engaged and received election-specific training, with permanent staff responding to more complex enquiries where necessary.