Arabic version: رسائل إلكترونية تكشف ضغوطاً على طواقم انتخابات جنوب أستراليا

According to ABC News, Freedom of Information documents show South Australian Electoral Commission staff were still seeking polling booth managers in several electorates only hours before the March 21 state election. Messages and emails described severe pressure on election workers, including one returning officer who said they had started the day crying at 4am.

The documents covered the electorates of Lee, Morphett and Stuart. In one western suburbs electorate, a returning officer said less than half of polling booth manager positions had been allocated and warned a booth could be shut down because venues had not been contacted. The officer later reported that a booth had no manager or deputy manager and had not been set up.

On polling day, ECSA operated nearly 700 polling booths and had advertised for a workforce of 8,000 people. Some booths were closed because of technical problems and others were shuttered entirely. At one western suburbs booth, a returning officer wrote that only one person was trained to handle declaration votes, while the polling booth manager had been appointed hours before polls opened. The note said the worker could not take a break and that the booth should not have opened.

Stuart, the state’s largest regional electorate, also had four unstaffed booths three days before the election: Woomera, Booborowie, Jamestown and Leigh Creek. A senior manager said there were limited people willing or available to work. The night before polling, an official told returning officers that ECSA was reassessing staffing because of reduced activity, while warning that booths were not to close unless authorised by the commissioner.

An independent review led by former Australian electoral commissioner Tom Rogers has received more than 1,000 submissions and is due before the end of the year. Rogers described the documents as “distressing reading” and said the review would make findings and recommendations. Acting SA Electoral Commissioner Leah McLay said she was extremely concerned by reports of worker distress and that significant operational issues were evident during the election.