So what are we fighting for?
The Australian public want to see change, yet the only input
we have is our precious vote, so every few years we cast our vote for a
representative to do our will.
The way in which we vote is controlled by those we elect, as
such the voting system should be a reflection of the will of the electorate,
yet we endure a 2 party system of voting, which is clearly the result of the
will of the 2 major parties.
So it becomes evident that those we elect to do our will, in
fact protect the will of their respective parties, and this reflection is cast
right across the legislative change in this country, with out regard to the
will of the people.
The joint standing committee on electoral matters has for
many years found that the people of this fine country do not support the
current electoral system, yet their findings fall on the deaf ears of our
supposed representatives blinded by structural biases towards their respective
parties own self interest.
The result is very simple here in South Australia for
instance, we are not guaranteed access to enough information regarding our
choices of candidates, yet we must attend to vote, and if we wish to exercise
our right to vote, we must have a preference for even those we do not know or
even oppose.
The 2 party preferred count does the rest ensuring exactly
that, one of the 2 parties receives your vote, whether you like it or not.
This situation is somewhat impossible to change, as the will
of the electorate, no longer has any standing, making matters worse is that
every time they put forward electoral reform, it takes away more of our
fundamental rights and liberties. The latest changes put forward by our state
government include, deregistering more minor parties, demanding any media talk
back includes our personal details including our home address, trying to
dismantle the upper house checks and balances and the like, all deliberately
designed to increase their control at the expense of what little hard earned
rights we have left.
THIS DEPLORABLE SITUATION HAS JUST GOT WORSE IN LEAPS AND
BOUNDS.
The 2010 State Election has just endured the worst attacks
on what little democracy we have left ever seen in this countries history.
First the gerrymander ensured the party with the least
public support took office for the third time in the past few elections, not
happy with all they had done to democracy, the Labor Party then took the
election conduct to all time lows, dressing up as another party and handing out
dodgy how to vote cards, they registered the name of the opposition leaders
name (Isobel Redmond) as their reply paid postal address to dupe innocent
voters.
No, that wasn’t enough; the electoral commission ran what
can only be described as a discount election. The new easy voter card took
precedence over genuine how to vote information, Postal ballots went missing,
the electoral rolls buggered up, with hundreds if not many thousands of voters
being denied their vote.
From the hundreds of written complaints I initially received
and that are stilling coming in, include that people who had passed away many
years ago, names were still on the roll, yet the same families who had voted
for may years were not, in most cases these people were denied their rights
under the Act to an absentee vote, in fact reports of polling booths running
out of absentee forms became evident.
How to vote information like the “how to vote guide” usually
sent to every home did not arrive and the usual how to vote card information
displayed in the polling booths, was not there. Some voters were denied entry
to the polling booths due to their attire others were not, and reports of
misleading advertising, the illegal use of signage et all are staggering.
I shall not try to list all the complaints here, non the
less, thousands of people were either denied their vote, or were uninformed of
how to vote, casting serious doubt on the validity of the election results
across the board.
Here is where it becomes a total mess; I put together a
petition to the court of disputed returns to have the election results
scrutinized, having studied the rules of the court, and ensuring it mimicked
petitions that had been accepted in the past.
The petition was handed in on Monday the 19 of
April, after what appeared several stalling tactics it was rejected on
Wednesday the following week, on the grounds I had no standing to submit the
petition, the statutory declarations included had to be affidavits, and their
was no rights under the Act to have an election result deemed invalid.
With a strict time line to lodge such petitions of 40 days
from the return of the writ, and little to no energy left, I am doing my best
to rework the petition to comply, even though it appears to meet the standards
of the court or disputed returns rules.
Here
are the rules from the Act,
106—Principles to
be observed
(1) The Court is to be guided by good conscience and
the substantial merits of each case
without regard to legal forms or technicalities.
(2) The Court is not bound by
the rules of evidence.
107—Orders that the Court
is empowered to make
(c) an order declaring an
election void and requiring a new election to be held.
104—Requisites of petition
(1) A petition disputing an election or return must—
(a) set out the facts relied on to invalidate the election
or return;
(b) set out the relief to which the petitioner claims
to be entitled;
(c) be signed by a candidate at the election in
dispute or by a person who was
qualified to vote at the election;
(d) be attested by 2 witnesses whose
occupations and addresses are stated;
(e) be filed in the Court within 40 days
after the return of the writ.
(2) At the time of filing the petition, the
petitioner must deposit with the Registrar of the
Supreme Court $200
as security for costs.
The court registrar
via Judge Burley expect the following,
“If you
choose to file another document it is suggested that:
- it be in the correct form
- it be supported by affidavits, not
statutory declarations
- it be confined to election results
relating to
- the Legislative Council;
and
- the seat in which you
stood or was eligible to vote.
We will
consider any further document(s) you may wish to lodge”.
The CODR
says with out regards to legal forms and technicalities, yet statutory
declarations v affidavits seems contradictory, the rules of evidence do not
apply, well they are being applied in a very technical manner, and “in correct
form”, relates to the use of the word election, which I have used as it appears
in the Act.
The question raised by the reply from the registry is one of
Election v Electorate, the electoral act says an election can be deemed void,
the registrar has decided an election in fact is and electorate, in other words
even if we have adequate proof the whole election process has been so irregular
that it has adversely affected the validity of the outcome, we may only be able
to pick one electorate to have a by election, and every person in the state
would have to go back to the polls, but only for the upper house, such
arguments are best decided by legal argument, rather than one mans views at the
early stage of lodgment.
Dare we allow our right to dispute an election wanting of
fair play and a fair go, to be the sole domain of the best legal minds and the
largest wallet, or should it remain as it was designed, a court designed to
allow a candidate or voter the right to judicial review in a fair and timely
manner?
We are hoping the Petition will be re-submitted on Monday
the 3 of May at around 12.00, when we hold a rally for democracy
and an Honest Election in Victoria Square at the same time, and we will be
staying until we find out the results, how ever long that takes.
If the results of this election are allowed to stand, it
opens the doors to even more abuse and inappropriate conduct, and not one South
Australian voter dare allow that the happen.
“The Last Stand Rally” will be the first time since the
Eureka Stockade that Australians have united for Democracy, I hope and pray
that one and all will stand with us, for with out honest democracy, the free will
of the people will become a thing of the past.
Mark M Aldridge
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