Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will write to the Australian Electoral Commission following intense outrage over the commissioner’s confusing comments on the voting rules for the Voice to Parliament referendum.
While voters are being strongly encouraged to simply respond to the constitutional amendment question with either a Yes or No, AEC Commissioner Tom Rogers said there were “saving provisions” to ensure voter intention was ensured.
Speaking to 2GB’s Ray Hadley, Mr Dutton revealed he would take action on the matter, describing the situation as"completely outrageous". “It just stinks to be honest and I think the AEC Commissioner here really needs to step up and exert his independence and give a sensible interpretation, one that doesn’t favour the yes or the no case.”
The AEC is spending much of its $336 million budget to conduct the Voice referendum on public awareness around voting rules as it has been almost 25 years since the last vote of its kind. "The rate of informal votes cast at the previous referendum in 1999 was just 0.86 per cent, and of those informal votes many would not have been related to ticks and crosses in any way."
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