The NSW Electoral Commission has defended itself against claims by a number of minor parties that it dragged its feet over the counting of votes in the recent election for the Legislative Council.
The Commission said that in early 2018, the NSW Electoral Commissioner determined that seven Legislative Council groups would be counted concurrently with the Legislative Assembly on election night, as part of the first preference count for both Houses.
The seven groups were chosen on the basis that they currently, or previously had, held seats in the Legislative Council.
The Commission said this determination was made in the interests of workplace health and safety and to provide the voters with an early indication of the initial Legislative Council count on election night.
Electoral Commissioner John Schmidt (pictured) said the vast majority of election officials involved in the first preference count process were temporary staff drawn from the general community.
“I make no apologies for doing everything I can to provide these staff with a safe working environment, which includes safe working hours on election day,” Mr Schmidt said.
He said registered parties were advised of the new process in a NSW Electoral Commission bulletin released on 11 May 2018.
He said the process was further presented at briefings for registered parties which were conducted by the Electoral Commission in June 2018 and November 2018.
In a joint statement released after the election, nearly a dozen minor parties and independents claimed they had been treated with contempt by those in charge of counting votes.
The group accused the Electoral Commission of discrimination by not releasing primary vote information for the upper house outside of the top seven parties.
Mr Schmidt said the check count of upper house ballot papers started on the Sunday after the election and was progressively reporting the count for all groups and candidates.
He said the declaration of results for the upper house was scheduled for this Friday (12 April).
