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Speaker 1: Now we know it's been an incredibly interesting few days.

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Speaker 1: I think it's say when it comes to the council elections,

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Speaker 1: we've been covering quite extensively some of the issues being

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Speaker 1: experienced at the early voting centers by candidates after they

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Speaker 1: realized that they were not able to hand out how

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Speaker 1: to vote cards at Darwin Council facilities. Well, then yesterday

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Speaker 1: it was being reported that eighth candidates vying for the

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Speaker 1: top sposh on the Darwin City Council they'd accused the

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Speaker 1: council then of being undemocratic as they demand the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory Electoral Commission postpone the election until actions taken. Now

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Speaker 1: we know Darwin wasn't the only location where concerns were raised.

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Speaker 1: Outing kooler Linga, some candidates were asking if a table

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Speaker 1: could be set up with how to vote cards at

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Speaker 1: the shopping center. Now joining me on the line is

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territories Electoral Commissioner Kirston Kelly. Good morning, Kerston,

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Speaker 1: Good morning Katie, thanks so much for your time this morning. Now,

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Speaker 1: first off, can I get a bit of an update

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Speaker 1: on how many people have been out to vote?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Absolutely, so, we've had three days of early voting,

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Speaker 2: and there's been just over ten thousand Territorians vote across

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Speaker 2: the territory at early voting centers and in remote voting locations,

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Speaker 2: so quite a positive over just over three thousand plus

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Speaker 2: every day, and we're not seeing a significant decline over

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Speaker 2: the three days. So we usually see quite a strong

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Speaker 2: turnout on day one and then it tends to decline,

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Speaker 2: but it's actually stayed quite quite high in the over

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Speaker 2: three thousands, which is fairly positive.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, and so do you know, like, have most

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Speaker 1: people been turning out to our urban centers or remote

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Speaker 1: areas or is it a bit of everything?

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Speaker 2: So it's a bit of everything. So certainly the whether

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Speaker 2: higher populations are we're seeing a high turnout, but it's

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Speaker 2: been really quite stable over the three days, which is

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Speaker 2: really promising.

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Speaker 1: Let's talk about these how to vote cards. Has there

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Speaker 1: been a table at the koler Linger central set up

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Speaker 1: for people or are they able to have one set

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Speaker 1: up out there for people to find their how to

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Speaker 1: vote cards?

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Speaker 2: So at koler Linger there is no campaigning allowed in

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Speaker 2: the shopping center. There is campaigning allowed outside the shopping

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Speaker 2: center as long as campaign campaigners aren't obstructing the footpaths,

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Speaker 2: pedestrian access and the entrance to the shopping center. So

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Speaker 2: candidates are able to outside that entrance to the shopping

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Speaker 2: center and then the ten meter buffer outside of that

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Speaker 2: to hand out their head to vote cards. But there

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Speaker 2: is not a table available inside the shopping center.

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Speaker 1: Could there be one or should there be one?

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Speaker 2: In the past where there hasn't been campaigning allowed outside

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Speaker 2: the shopping center, the Anti Electoral Commission did provide the

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Speaker 2: table or displays for how to vote for candidates. This year,

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Speaker 2: it was determined that we would not be doing that

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Speaker 2: and that was communicated to Council earlier in the year

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Speaker 2: because that had become quite problematic to manage those as

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Speaker 2: well as managing voting centers.

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Speaker 1: I know that some candidates have been in contact with

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Speaker 1: us and has kind have said, you know, Katie, you're

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Speaker 1: not actually they're not able to even hand out the

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Speaker 1: how to votes in the car park in that area.

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Speaker 1: Is that correct?

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Speaker 2: So for Cooler Linger and the Catherine Central shopping Center,

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Speaker 2: so where the voting center is located in the shopping center,

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Speaker 2: the rules that have been communicated to all candidates is

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Speaker 2: that they cannot campaign inside the shopping center. So it's

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Speaker 2: not to obstruct people that are in the shopping center

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Speaker 2: and their use of the shopping center. Outside, they are

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Speaker 2: able to campaign, but not to obstruct people entering, So

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Speaker 2: they can find a place outside in the shade and

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Speaker 2: hand out their how to vote if they like, but

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Speaker 2: just not to obstruct people entering the shopping center and

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Speaker 2: obstruct path to make sure that our shopping center is

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Speaker 2: accessible to people with disabilities as well, which is really important.

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Speaker 2: So in the car park, I think there's safety issues there,

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Speaker 2: so I'd certainly say toy candidates find somewhere in the

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Speaker 2: shade that's not blocking people's access, and you're welcome to

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Speaker 2: hand out you how to vote there, and if you're

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Speaker 2: not sure, you can ask security where they can stay

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Speaker 2: and hand out those how to vote.

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Speaker 1: Just to get that clarity, why has there been shops

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Speaker 1: or locations their owners don't want people to campaign chosen

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Speaker 1: rather than locations where they potentially could.

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Speaker 2: So it's quite as you can appreciate. Every four years

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Speaker 2: we run elections and we look for premises for two

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Speaker 2: weeks to provide voting services. So what we look at

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Speaker 2: when we're looking for venue selection is accessibility for voters.

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Speaker 2: So making sure that people can access with people with

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Speaker 2: disability wheelchair access, and that the location for local government

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Speaker 2: actions within the council area, so we can maximize people

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Speaker 2: accessing those voting centers. The size and access points of

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Speaker 2: the voting centers is important. So what we like to

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Speaker 2: have is somewhere where people can move in one entrance

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Speaker 2: and exit the other and we can set out our

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Speaker 2: voting materials in a way that people can move through there.

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Speaker 2: And then the short term availability and cost. So there's

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Speaker 2: a lot of things that we have to consider when

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Speaker 2: we find a venue, and for early voting, it's about convenience.

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Speaker 2: We want as many electors to come and appreciate that.

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Speaker 2: Candidates also want an opportunity to promote their candidacy and

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Speaker 2: there's certainly opportunities, but there are sometimes landowner restrictions. We're

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Speaker 2: often sharing that space with other patrons and members of

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Speaker 2: the community who might not be there for voting, they

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Speaker 2: might be there for other businesses.

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Speaker 1: Commissioner, can I ask You've got a situation at the

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Speaker 1: moment where some of the candidates are now publicly saying

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Speaker 1: that the process in Darwin has been undemocratic and demanding

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Speaker 1: that the Northern Territory Electoral Commission postponed the election until

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Speaker 1: actions taken. So Peter Starles, Leo Potter, Julie Fraser, Amy Own,

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Speaker 1: Nico Lachlan and Robin Lawrence, as I understand, they appeared

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Speaker 1: at the Aaentt Center earlier this week, voiced their concerns

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Speaker 1: to the NT News.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: The candidates claimed that the City of Darwin was potentially

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Speaker 1: falling foul of the electoral rules by passing a policy

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Speaker 1: prohibiting candidates from distributing their how to vote card on

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Speaker 1: council property. Is there any consideration here for the Electoral

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Speaker 1: Commission to postpone the election?

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Speaker 2: So the Northern Territory Electoral Commission, under the Local Government

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Speaker 2: Act in the Local Government Electoral Regulations conducts the elections

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Speaker 2: in accordance with those rules. So with regards to campaigning,

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Speaker 2: there's a requirement and we enforce the authorization provisions of

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Speaker 2: campaign material and their provisions in the Local Government Electoral

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Speaker 2: Acts about conduct at voting centers, which means that someone

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Speaker 2: within ten meters of the entrance to the voting center

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Speaker 2: is prohibited from canvassing or campaigning. So there's no restrictions

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Speaker 2: outside of that, but landowners may impose a different additional restriction.

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Speaker 2: So we do see that outside of council property. So

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Speaker 2: we have anti government roads have restrictions on wee you

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Speaker 2: can put course lootes. Schools have restrictions on when core

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Speaker 2: flutes can go up on their property on the night

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Speaker 2: before election day. Councils have policies and by laws regarding

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Speaker 2: you know, public use of space and also putting elections

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Speaker 2: signage up when we use eton facility that's Commonwealth Land

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Speaker 2: and the Commonwealth Land had also restrictions on putting campaign

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Speaker 2: material in verges. So different venues may have different restrictions

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Speaker 2: because of the multiple uses of those.

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Speaker 1: So I mean, do you think any of these processes

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Speaker 1: have been undemocratic?

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Speaker 2: So with regards to the Anti Electoral Commission, we've been

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Speaker 2: following the we're conducting election accordance with the legislation, and

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Speaker 2: the legislation requires us to manage campaigning within that ten

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Speaker 2: meters of that voting center.

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Speaker 1: Has there been any complaints made?

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Speaker 2: So sometimes, again, in all elections, campaigning is quite sensitive,

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Speaker 2: so we certainly have complaints from people about campaign campaunding

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Speaker 2: and then we also complaints about from candidates about the

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Speaker 2: ability to campaign. So it's not uncommon and then this

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Speaker 2: is in all electoral commissions. You know, New Zealand Electoral

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Speaker 2: Commission doesn't allow campaigning at all on election day. South

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Speaker 2: Australian Electoral Commission actually has it as an offense to

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Speaker 2: display core flutes during an elections, and other jurisdictions restrictions

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Speaker 2: like on the number of core flutes that people can

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Speaker 2: have within an area. So campaigning is quite sensitive and

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Speaker 2: it's a balance. It's a balance for convenience for voters

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Speaker 2: to access, for ding centers to be able to freely

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Speaker 2: cast their vote, and also for campaigners to be able

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Speaker 2: to spread their message. But what we do do is

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Speaker 2: when candidates submit their nominations, we allow them to provide

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Speaker 2: their details and if they have a Facebook or social

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Speaker 2: media account and they provide consent, we publish that and

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Speaker 2: we put that on the website. So whilst the Antielectric

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Speaker 2: Commission doesn't have a role and rightly so in promoting candidacy,

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Speaker 2: we do look to try to support candidates where we can,

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Speaker 2: because it's important that electors can access information about candidates

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Speaker 2: before they vote.

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Speaker 1: Commissioner, look, I know that there's obviously some of these

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Speaker 1: candidates saying that you know that the election should be postponed.

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Speaker 1: For others listening this morning, they can probably think of

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Speaker 1: nothing worse. Is the election going to be postponed in

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Speaker 1: any way.

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Speaker 2: So the election won't be postponed. But what I will say,

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Speaker 2: under the Local Government Act, there are provisions regarding electoral disputes,

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Speaker 2: so there are opportunity for persons with interest to dispute

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Speaker 2: the validity of election. So those provisions do exist in

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Speaker 2: the Local Government Act. So we won't be looking to

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Speaker 2: postpone the election and we'll be continuing and certainly encouraging

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Speaker 2: territories to vote well.

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory Electoral Commissioner Kirsten Kelly always appreciate your time.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us today.

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Speaker 2: Have a great day.

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Speaker 1: Thank you too. Thank you