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Speaker 1: Joining me live on the line is the Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: Electoral Commissioner, Kirsten Kelly.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to your commissioner.

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Speaker 3: Good morning, Katy.

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Speaker 1: Oh, good to hear your voice. Sorry about the tech

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Speaker 1: issue and sorry we're now running late. Now, Commissioner, where

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Speaker 1: are things ash with.

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Speaker 2: The counts at this stage?

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Speaker 3: So we're in the second week of our thirteen day

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Speaker 3: count period, So today we'll be looking and starting to

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Speaker 3: admit declaration votes which have been deemed as accepted in

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Speaker 3: the count. So they're votes where someone's attended a voting

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Speaker 3: center and they can't be found on the role and

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Speaker 3: believe they have an entitlement to vote. And for the

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Speaker 3: last week the Australian Electoral Commission has been confirming the

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Speaker 3: eligibility entitlement to be enrolled and the NTECH has then

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Speaker 3: been looking at the entitlement for that vote to be admitted.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, right, are there many people that fall into that category.

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Speaker 3: So we're looking at about so we had just under

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Speaker 3: two thousand declaration votes cast at this election. In twenty

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Speaker 3: twenty it was about twenty two hundred, so we're looking

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Speaker 3: at around about twelve hundred or more being admitted to

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Speaker 3: the count in the next two days, all.

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Speaker 1: Right, So it is quite a large, large sort of number.

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Speaker 1: And that's across the board, is it.

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Speaker 3: That's across all divisions?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Now, in terms of, you know, the way in

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Speaker 1: which this week is kind of going to work with

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Speaker 1: the outstanding postal votes and those declaration votes, what's the

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Speaker 1: process for the remainder of the week.

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Speaker 3: So the next two days will be focused on counting

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Speaker 3: in the declaration votes and then as we move closer

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Speaker 3: to the end of the week, on Friday, at twelve

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Speaker 3: noon is the deadline for a receipt of postal vote.

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Speaker 3: So there's about seventeen hundred postal votes that are still

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Speaker 3: outstanding and maybe returned and may be admitted to the count,

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Speaker 3: and that will happen after twelve o'clock on Friday.

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Speaker 1: What's the like what's the likelihood of all of those

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Speaker 1: coming back or how many do you usually kind of

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Speaker 1: get back with some of those numbers?

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Speaker 3: So last writa, we're just over one hundred, So it

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Speaker 3: can be one hundred a day, or it'll tend to

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Speaker 3: probably to line as we get closer to the Friday,

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Speaker 3: but they're still they still come in.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So still got a few coming in but the

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Speaker 1: percentage of postal votes being returned, like is it quite

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Speaker 1: high on previous elections.

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Speaker 3: So we've had less postal votes applied for this election,

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Speaker 3: and we've had five three hundred admitted to the count

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Speaker 3: so far. So we've had about a thousand people who

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Speaker 3: applied for postal vote but then went in voted at

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Speaker 3: a voting center, so they won't be returned. And that's

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Speaker 3: totally okay they because if we have electronic markof we

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Speaker 3: can see that and so that postal vote won't have

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Speaker 3: any effect.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Right, I had been told and please correct me

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Speaker 1: if I'm wrong, but I had been told out in

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Speaker 1: Daily there was about one hundred postal votes but people

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Speaker 1: had already been in and voted.

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Speaker 2: Do you know if that was the case.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So that does happen, and it happens all across divisions.

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Speaker 3: And we certainly as we get closer to the election

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Speaker 3: day and people can still apply for postal application up

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Speaker 3: until two days before election day and the probability of

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Speaker 3: reaching them through the postal services low, So we certainly

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Speaker 3: message to people if you are at a voting center,

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Speaker 3: we can make it to a voting senate to go

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Speaker 3: there once you've gone and had your name marked off,

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Speaker 3: even if you did return that postal vote, and the

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Speaker 3: majority of people don't return them because they know they've

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Speaker 3: already voted, that would not be admitted and it would

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Speaker 3: be rejected. So yeah, right, it's not uncommon.

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Speaker 2: So it's not people trying to do something dodgy out there.

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Speaker 3: No, we've got processes in place to make sure that

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Speaker 3: there's no multi voting and as soon as someone's name

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Speaker 3: is marked off the role that postal vote is closed out.

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Speaker 2: Was it quite a high number though in the daily

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Speaker 2: electorate or No?

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Speaker 3: So in the Daily Elector, I think there was about

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Speaker 3: fifty the maybe fifty that were applied for and then

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Speaker 3: had gone to an early voting center. We had early

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Speaker 3: voting available through mobile teams, but also at Berry Springs

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Speaker 3: Village as well, and Cooler Linger also received a lot

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Speaker 3: of voting in person as well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, hey, I also and again, you know, please give

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Speaker 1: us some further detail if you do have any.

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Speaker 2: I was told that there was a huge brawl at the.

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Speaker 1: Nolin Boy polling booth on election day, up to three

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Speaker 1: hundred people involved, and it had spilled out from the

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Speaker 1: football preliminary final.

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Speaker 3: I'm not aware of that at all. Case heard about

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Speaker 3: that at all.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, well, we'll see if we can find

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Speaker 1: out some further detail. We might even contact the police.

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Speaker 1: But so no report of there being sort of a

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Speaker 1: big fight at the polling booth on that day or anything.

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Speaker 3: No, nothing that's been brought to my attention. And I

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Speaker 3: would imagine that would have been quite significant if it

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Speaker 3: had happened. I would have hoped I would have known.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, well, we'll see what we can find out.

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Speaker 1: Hey, in terms of because it does look as though

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Speaker 1: there's you know, there's still a couple of seats that

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Speaker 1: are really pretty close, you know, the likes of Nightcliff.

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Speaker 2: And Fanny Bay.

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Speaker 1: What's the process for those seats that are still very

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Speaker 1: close and there's you know, maybe fifty votes or maybe

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Speaker 1: a little bit more, but but you know, not a

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Speaker 1: huge number of votes sort of separating your first and

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Speaker 1: second on the vote tally.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So we'll get to Friday, and that'll be that

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Speaker 3: twelve noon close of postal votes deadline for receipts, and

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Speaker 3: then we will count any outstanding postal votes and add

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Speaker 3: them to the count. Then after that we will start

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Speaker 3: the distribution of preference process. So that's where anyone who

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Speaker 3: has not achieved fifty percent of the first preference count,

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Speaker 3: we will look to then exclude the candidate with the

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Speaker 3: lowest number and distribute their preferences until a candidate does

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Speaker 3: achieve fifty percent of the count.

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Speaker 1: And so in Nightcliff and Fanny Bay, are there many

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Speaker 1: of those postal votes that are still outstanding.

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Speaker 3: So in Fanny Bay there's eighty five postal votes still

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Speaker 3: potentially to be returned, and today there will be about

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Speaker 3: forty eight declaration votes added to the camp. So there's

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Speaker 3: a difference at the moment of thirty seven on the

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Speaker 3: candidate preferred.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, so it could still be fairly tight. What

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Speaker 1: about Nightcliff.

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Speaker 3: So Nightcliff has still got eighty five postal votes to

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Speaker 3: be returned, yep, or three?

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Speaker 2: That's all right, you're fine, Yeah, take your time. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and Nightcliff focus five have.

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Speaker 3: My apologies to still potentially to be returned.

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Speaker 1: Eighty five still potentially to be returned for Nightcliff. And

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Speaker 1: what about in terms of those declaration votes.

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Speaker 3: And declaration votes for Nightcliff? Out my all right, my

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Speaker 3: paperwork in front of.

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Speaker 2: The night You're fine, no, no, all good. We like

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Speaker 2: getting the numbers, so thirty about.

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Speaker 1: Thirty five, about thirty five years, right, so there is

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Speaker 1: still quite a few. But I guess on the law

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Speaker 1: of averages, we may not get all of the the

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Speaker 1: eighty five in Fanny Bay and Nightcliff. When it comes

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Speaker 1: to the postal votes, they may not all get back

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Speaker 1: by Friday, that's correct.

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Speaker 3: They may not be returned in time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well look it's going to be very tight. And

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Speaker 1: so just remind our listeners. I suppose once you've got

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Speaker 1: all of those all of those votes or all of

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Speaker 1: those you know, those ballots in is there sort of

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Speaker 1: do you have to go back and recount everything or

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Speaker 1: has that recount sort of already been done to some degree.

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Speaker 3: So we will go back into a full recount where

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Speaker 3: the margin is less than one hundred, and that's a

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Speaker 3: policy position. So in those instances, so for example, Barclay's

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Speaker 3: currently a difference of ninety and we'll know that as

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Speaker 3: we get closer to the end of the week where

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Speaker 3: that margin sits. But we do have a policy that

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Speaker 3: where there's a difference of less than one hundred or

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Speaker 3: a hundred or less, we'll go back into a full recount.

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Speaker 3: Outside of that, we're moving straight into the distribution of preferences.

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Speaker 3: Once we've counted those postal votes and added them to

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Speaker 3: the count, then we'll start the distribution process, all.

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Speaker 1: Right, So one way or another by Monday, is that right,

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Speaker 1: by Monday, we'll know who has won every seat.

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Speaker 3: So we'll be completing a distribution of preferences on Friday,

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Speaker 3: and then at ten o'clock on Monday will be declaric.

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Speaker 3: All right.

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Speaker 1: Well, look, it's I would imagine for some of those

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Speaker 1: for some of those candidates, it's been a quite a

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Speaker 1: stressful time for them, but sometimes this happens. Right, Some

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Speaker 1: of those seats are incredibly close across the Northern Territory,

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Speaker 1: and that's what you and I had spoken about on

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Speaker 1: so many occasions. I mean, your vote counts no matter

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Speaker 1: where you live, but you see just how much your

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Speaker 1: vote counts in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, we've got a small population, we've got small numbers

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Speaker 3: in divisions, and declining participation means that it's very hard

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Speaker 3: usually to get the fifty pervent on the first preferences.

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Speaker 3: I think there's about nine divisions that have less than

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Speaker 3: fifty percent on first preferences. In five divisions between fifty

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Speaker 3: and fifty five percent. So every vote does count, and

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Speaker 3: it is a manual and methodical process counting votes, and

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Speaker 3: it does take the full thirteen days to examine declaration

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Speaker 3: envelopes and postal votes and to do the checks and rechecks.

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Speaker 3: So and it's important that we get it right, and

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Speaker 3: we certainly will write a report with all of the

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Speaker 3: data at the end of the process.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and Kirsten, how long does it take well then

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Speaker 1: to sort of go through and look at the electoral

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Speaker 1: role check who hasn't voted and if they don't have

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Speaker 1: a fair reason why they've not voted, because that voter

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Speaker 1: turnout not really where we wanted it to be. So

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Speaker 1: I'm assuming that there will be some fines being sent out.

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Speaker 3: So well, certainly we have received over a couple of

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Speaker 3: thousand of excuses during the process where people have notified

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Speaker 3: us that they can't participate. And then in the next

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Speaker 3: couple of weeks and months months will be looking at

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Speaker 3: the non voter process as well. And yeah, it's important

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Speaker 3: that people participate, and then we'll be going through that

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Speaker 3: process and issuing our non voter infringement notices.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, Northern Territory Electoral Commissioner Kirsten Kelly, I always

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Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thank you very much for having a

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Speaker 1: chat with us on numerous occasions, both in the lead

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Speaker 1: up to the election and post election.

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Speaker 2: We appreciate it anytime