The fight to protect our most basic right, our vote.
Through out our history their have been many election
disputes, and many a paper in search of electoral reform, most disputes have
been based around defamation of a candidate in a variety of ways, and the most
argued reform has been based around the true freedom of choice optional
preferential voting would provide, and the communities need to become better
informed of their choices.
The structural biases that has crept into our electoral
system has been the direct result of conflict of interest, those that write the
laws having the most to gain by the biases found.
South Australia’s March 2010 election, took voting
irregularities to an all time low, most SA voters were appalled at the corrupt
tactics employed by the Labor party in regards to the Family First “How to vote
scandal” as this situation was made very public, other issues such as The State
Labor party registering the name “Isobel Redmond” were not made so public.
Voters being denied access to the polling booths and
hundreds if not thousands of postal votes going missing, made less of an impact
on voter backlash, being found only if one just happened upon the buried
stories.
Those in the know, like polling booth managers and career
politicians or budding candidates all noticed the severe lack of voter “How to
vote” information, usually abundant during past election processes. Knowing
well the impact it would have on genuine voter intention.
But with out doubt it was the back yard BBQ and the chat in
the pubs that was bringing to the publics attention the most outright attack on
voters rights, the electoral roll deficiencies. If I as one person can have
hundreds of written complaints from voters denied their right to vote, due to
discrepancies in the roll, the true numbers must be staggering, only last
Saturday a member of the public was telling me at a BBQ a few days after the
election, of the 12 people enjoying a relaxing afternoon, 9 had been denied
their vote to vote, not even an absentee ballot was offered.
Other affidavits I have received are testament to not only
long term voters finding them selves of the roll, but the inclusion of family
members who had passed on many years earlier, are some of these included in the
supposed 80,000 enrolled voters who never showed up to vote?
Could the 60,000 informal votes have been a result of lack
of how to vote information?
Emails I have received cover so many irregularities it is
some what overwhelming, people asked to vote under another’s name, and we have
yet to cover the multiple voting scandal, which did make an appearance in the
media, as did those fake voter enrolments found by the delivery of the “easy
voting card”.
At this stage making mention of the many concerns raised by
the new idea of the easy voting card, seems some what an over kill, none the
less, I have over 300 pages of statements confirming all off the above and a
few more irregularities to boot, and wait until you see the results of the
surveys I have had completed.
The March 2010 election strayed so far from the legislative
requirements for an election process, I doubt the court of disputed returns
will uphold any of it.
I will at this stage keep the worst information received up
my sleeve, well in regards to the election process.
The biggest story to come out of all of this, and it is not
the fact that my petition opened the eyes of the English media to the huge
electoral fraud unfolding in their country, but to the unjust system in place
to dispute the validity of our elections, and ensure the protections of voters
rights.
Petitions to the court of disputed returns, have, as one
would expect severe time restrictions, luckily for me, I was able to collate
well over 1000 pieces of evidence in a very short period of time. A petitioner
has 40 days from the return of the writ to file a petition, the first petition
I put forward for filing took nearly 2 weeks to knock back on technicalities,
even thought the electoral act protects petitioners from such issues.
The revised petition, to suit the interpretation of wording
in the act at this early filing stage, has faced other interesting time wasting
measures, just as my family has faced intimidation to drop the action, by some
one privy to the courts safe keeping of the petition.
Even though we have now been told the petition is compliant
and has been accepted, they are still taking days to finalize filing issues and
to procure a hearing date, asking for financials not only of my circumstances
but that of my wife, and even our self funded native Animal sanctuary?
Such tactics bemuses me, as even when a hearing date is
confirmed, I will still be the amateur up against the best crown solicitors,
but hey the evidence is overwhelming.
If justice is seen and heard, we will go back to the polls,
it might be the case that interpretation of the word “Election” may see it only
be the upper house and the 1 lower house seat in which I could vote, but I
still feel the separation of powers and the integrity of our supreme court,
will find in favor of our most basic and valuable right to cast a vote, and up
hold the due process of our electoral system.