The result of the upper house election in New South Wales could be contested after 19,000 early voters cast their votes on electronic ballot papers that left off the names of two of the parties above the line.
The Animal Justice party and Outdoor Recreation party were left out on the electronic voting site iVote.
About 19,000 people cast their vote before the error was noticed, but the NSW Electoral Commission has declared their votes will still be valid.
Online voting was suspended for about five hours on Tuesday when the error was discovered.
Richard Carroll, from the commission, said it was still possible for people to vote for those parties as the candidates’ names and party were printed below the line.
“Nobody’s vote has been changed from what they wanted to vote for, all the votes are valid, but anyone can go back and check again if it makes them feel better,” he said.
“This assumes that people were actually voting for those groups, which is not necessarily the case.”
But the Animal Justice party and Outdoor Recreation party could use the error to contest the vote if it ends up being close.
“Any candidate or any group of candidates has the right to contest the result of the election for any reason,” Carroll said.
“That’s built into law, but to be successful they would have to prove the system hadn’t worked, so anyone has the right to challenge but it would be looked upon on whether the outcome of the election could have been [different].”
People who vote online can log in and change their votes before the election, and check to see if it is valid. The site also warns a voter if they are lodging an informal vote.
Andrew Thaler, who is running for the upper house as an independent, noticed the absence of the two parties on the electronic ballot last week and raised it with Labor party officials on Tuesday after the party had released how-to-vote cards with the parties on it.
“If it’s a tight contest and it gets down to very small numbers between parties, it is now a legitimate reason for a protest to be lodged,” he said.
“It would be 19,000 votes under question for voting irregularity after not being provided a proper ballot paper.”
Thaler said the admission of the two parties was a “cock up” by the electoral commission.
“My victory needs to be a clean victory, not a victory under contention,” he said.
