2022 Bragg By‑election Report

In the 2022 Bragg By-election Report...

By-election trigger

The Bragg by-election was triggered by the resignation of the member for Bragg, the Honourable Vickie Chapman, on 31 May 2022. Ms Chapman was first elected to represent the district of Bragg at the 2002 state election. Ms Chapman was re-elected by the electors of Bragg at subsequent state elections held in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.

Issue of writ

A writ is the formal instrument that instructs the Electoral Commissioner to conduct an election, and in the case of a casual vacancy in the House of Assembly, it is issued by the Speaker. Pursuant to section 47 of the Electoral Act, on 1 June 2022 the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Honourable Dan Cregan, informed the Electoral Commissioner of the vacancy by issuing a writ for a by-election. The activities and dates for the by-election outlined in the writ were as follows:

Close of roll: 5:00 pm, Tuesday 14 June 2022

Close of nominations: 12 noon, Friday 17 June 2022

Polling day: Saturday 2 July 2022

Return of the writ: on or before Friday 15 July 2022

Enrolment

Legislative provisions fix the date for the close of roll at 10 days after the issue of the writ for a by-election. The date set for the Bragg by-election was 5:00 pm, Tuesday 14 June 2022. At the close of roll there were 26,596 electors eligible to vote for the district of Bragg. This was a decrease of 113 electors or 0.4% since the state election.

Nominations

The nomination period opened on Wednesday 1 June 2022 and closed at 12 noon on Friday 17 June 2022.

On Friday 10 June, ECSA held an in-person candidate briefing session for persons interested in nominating. Topics included:

Six candidates nominated for the by-election: 5 were party-endorsed candidates of registered political parties and one was an independent.

Five candidates were male and one female.

After nominations closed, the returning officer declared all candidates and conducted the draw for positions on the ballot paper. This involved writing the names of candidates on individual cards and randomly drawing them from a box. Candidates and scrutineers were invited to witness the ballot draw, which was conducted at the ECSA office in Adelaide.

Candidates and affiliation:

By-election project management

Project planning commenced as soon as it became apparent that a by-election would be required. The recent state election aided in project planning, with many plans only requiring volume adjustment.

The by-election included 40 individual projects, which were monitored by the project management office and reported through to the Election Delivery Committee (EDC).

COVID-19

The by-election was held during a period when many eligible electors were either isolating or in quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eligible electors who were impacted by COVID restrictions could vote by post up until applications closed at 5 pm on Thursday 30 June 2022. After this date and up until the close of polling on 2 July, ECSA staff personally delivered ballot material to the homes of eligible electors that were in COVID-19 home isolation or quarantine.

Returning officer appointment and arrangement

The Electoral Commissioner appoints a returning officer (RO) to administer a by-election in the relevant electoral district. Consistent with the state election, an assistant returning officer (ARO) is also appointed to provide high-level support and to assume the RO’s responsibilities if required. For the by-election, Bill Cinnamond was the RO and Roger Mann the ARO.

Staffing

Staff were employed in 126 separate roles for the by-election. A polling booth manager and deputy polling booth manager were allocated for each polling booth. A total of 56 polling officials were employed for the 8 booths in Bragg. A hygiene officer was also assigned to each polling booth to ensure COVID safety protocols were in place.

ECSA also implemented a new initiative where dedicated COVID-19 mobile officers delivered voting packs to electors who were COVID-19 positive or otherwise in isolation and unable to attend a polling booth. There were 7 COVID-19 mobile officers.

Additional staff were required for the by-election in the following capacities: kit packing and logistical duties; processing postal vote applications; issuing early votes; and rechecking and counting ballot papers from the Sunday after polling day until the full distribution of preferences the following Sunday.

The following table shows the staff categories and the number of roles performed in each category.

Staffing:

Training

The workforce learning project ensured all members of the temporary election workforce (TEW) employed to work at the by-election completed training relevant to their duties.

Employing only staff who had worked in the same role at the state election and who received a satisfactory performance rating ensured ECSA had staff with an existing level of competence. Given that it had only been 3 months since these staff completed their initial state election training and performed their roles, refresher training was rolled out.

Completion of refresher training was mandatory, and the completion rate was high: 100% for early voting staff and approximately 95% for other staff.

Premises and polling place selection

A building was secured on Glen Osmond Road to serve as the RO's accommodation and a co-located early voting centre (EVC).

Securing the locations for polling booths was complicated y the short notice provided about when the by-election would be held, with no bookings able to be explored with any certainty until after the writ had been issued.

ECSA was able to open ordinary polling booths at the same 8 locations in the district of Bragg used at the state election but did not open the 3 shared polling booths available to Bragg electors at the state election as these were located outside the district.

The ability to remedy this situation has previously been a recommendation for legislative change and will be further proposed.

The by-election saw 26,596 electors in the eastern suburbs district of Bragg required to head to the polls for the third time in 5 months.

With a significant risk of voter fatigue, ECSA rolled out an updated version of the state election creative, utilising bright orange to differentiate by-election advertising from state and federal elections.

Using all available media in Bragg and surrounding areas, including press, bus stops, billboards, and digital shopping centre signs, the same phasing as used in previous elections was used, starting with awareness, how to vote, and then urgency as polling day approached. The campaign was combined with an extensive media engagement program to keep the topic of the by-election top of mind in the media.

As the electoral roll was in good shape, with 2 elections held in the previous months, only a small amount of targeted advertising was deployed to remind electors who had recently moved into the area that they needed to update their enrolment details.

Voters were once again provided with EasyVote cards that included their enrolment details and the details of the EVC and their nearest polling booths. The EasyVote cards were accompanied by a guide on how to vote in the by-election.

In addition to traditional media, electors with email addresses and mobile phone numbers registered on their enrolment were sent emails and SMSes. The messages informed electors that early voting had commenced, and the follow-up emails and SMSes sent on the night before polling day and an SMS on polling day reminded them to vote if they had not already done so.

Additionally, several media engagement opportunities were completed throughout the day to provide additional on-the-day promotion.

Print and outdoor advertising

In the Bragg district and surrounding areas, press, bus stops, billboards, and digital shopping centre signs were deployed. The same phasing as in prior elections was employed, beginning with awareness, followed by instructions on how to vote, and then urgency as polling day drew near.

Text messages

Throughout the campaign, SMS messages were delivered to electors whose mobile numbers were registered on their enrolment.

Social media

Supporting the advertising campaign was a social media campaign, which started in April 2022 and used Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn as key channels.

Regular updates were published throughout the election period that were designed to engage electors and inform them of various stages of the election.

The social media posts reinforced messaging in the advertising campaign, highlighting how to access information resources and accessible polling booths, and depicting ‘behind the scenes’ elements of preparations for polling day.

ECSA received the most engagement from posts featuring behind-the-scenes photos; however, overall likes and engagement were low due to the smaller audience of social followers in the Bragg area.

Website

The ECSA website’s homepage was dedicated to the by-election, with a call to action located in the primary banner that provided easy access to the by-election landing page. Features underneath the banner were changed according to the phase of the by-election and provided direct links to information such as enrolment, voting locations, candidates, and options for COVID-affected electors.

The first call to action from 1 June was for candidates wishing to participate in the election funding scheme and the requirement to lodge an application for election funding.

This was followed by information about the candidate briefing session and a call for electors to check or update their electoral enrolment before the electoral roll closes on 14 June 2022.

Daily website usage remained steady at around 1,000 visits from the issue of the writ on 1 June and increased to over 1,500 at the close of roll and close of nominations. Visits increased to over 3,400 at the time early voting began and peaked on polling day at over 7,050 visitors.

The top-rating pages included the by-election landing page (18,500 views), voting locations (6,252 views), Bragg district profile map (5,300 views), and postal voting (4,457 views).

Information for vision impaired electors

ECSA continued its long-running partnership with the Royal Society for the Blind and Guide Dogs SA.

To support vision-impaired electors in the Bragg district, a range of materials, including an audio letter, social media, website information, and around 100 large print letters, were disseminated.

Community engagement

The delivery of by-election information to the citizens of Bragg was provided through an updated version of the recent state election guide.

ECSA identified underrepresented groups and provided information resources with key messaging to ensure eligible citizens were made aware that enrolment and voting in the by-election was compulsory.

Communication materials used the same look and feel as the state election campaign to maintain community awareness that an election was being held.

Cultural groups that reside within Bragg were identified, and resources were allocated to engage CALD, disability, and youth groups.

Resources for CALD residents were developed from research of the area profile and demographic information sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which identified that 6% of Bragg residents were born in China. The Bragg by-election guide was translated into Mandarin and distributed by our Chinese community ambassador.

Public notices

The Electoral Act requires public notices to be placed during the by-election and sets out the publication and timeframes by which these notices must appear. Public notices were printed in the Advertiser newspaper and the Government Gazette as required by legislation.

Public notice details:

Call centre

A call centre was set up in conjunction with the non-voter call centre established for the state election. Over a five-week period from 6 June to 8 July 2022, a total of 523 by-election related calls were received, with the highest volume of 139 calls received on polling day.

To ensure all Bragg electors could exercise their right to vote, ECSA offered a range of convenient voting opportunities, providing for an accessible and inclusive electoral process. An EVC opened from 20 June to 2 July 2022 and 8 polling booths were located throughout the district on polling day.

Eligible electors could apply for a postal vote, and to assist with increasing participation, ECSA helped COVID-affected electors by developing a strategy for delivering ballot material to their homes.

Participation

Voter participation at the by-election decreased from that of the state election held 4 months earlier. A total of 22,294 votes were cast, a participation rate of 83.8%, down from 90.4% in the district at the state election in March.

Participation at by-elections is typically lower than during a state election given the shorter timeframe, the absence of a statewide advertising campaign, and the reduced media coverage. In 2022, voter fatigue was a possible factor in the decrease in the participation rate, with Bragg electors going to the state polls in March and then again federally in May.

Early voting

Electors who were unable to attend a polling booth on polling day were able to vote at the EVC located at 312 Glen Osmond Road, Myrtle Bank. The location was selected as it was highly visible from the busy road and was familiar to many electors as it had been used as a voting centre for the 2022 federal election.

The centre was open for 2 weeks prior to polling day, operating from 9 am to 6 pm. Voting hours were extended to 8 pm on Thursdays and available from 10 am until 5 pm on the Saturday before polling day.

A total of 5,317 declaration votes were issued during the early voting period.

Votes issued at the EVC:

Postal voting

Eligible electors could apply to vote by mail, which is a convenient option for those who are unable to get to a polling place. Electors could access a postal vote application at local Australia Post outlets, by contacting the call centre, or by downloading one from the website.

A total of 3,701 postal voting packs were sent to applicants, and a further 795 were sent to electors on the register of declaration voters.

As soon as polling booths closed at 6 pm, electoral officers commenced counting the ordinary ballot papers cast on polling day. Staff performed 2 counts: a first preference count and a two-candidate preferred count with preferences distributed to the 2 candidates expected to receive the most first preference votes.

By 8:30 pm, all polling booth counts were completed and provided on the ECSA website.

After polling day, the returning officer and staff conducted a recheck of all votes cast on polling day to confirm their accuracy. During the following week, declaration votes were counted, and the results published on the ECSA website as they became available. The final distribution of preferences to determine the result was held on Sunday 10 July 2022.

At the conclusion of the final distribution of preferences, Mr Jack Batty achieved 55.6% of the votes.

Informality

There were 362 informal votes cast, representing 1.6% of all votes counted. This was 0.2 percentage points lower than the informality rate recorded in the district of Bragg at the state election.

The district has one of the lowest rates of informality of any electoral district in South Australia.

Informal vote comparison:

Declaration of results

The RO for Bragg, Mr Bill Cinnamond, concluded the by-election with the declaration of the poll ceremony on Monday 11 July 2022 at Burnside Town Hall.

The Liberal candidate, Mr Jack Batty, was declared elected as the Member for Bragg. Mr Batty obtained 11,070 first preference votes, equating to an absolute majority of 50.5% of the votes.

Return of writ

The writ was returned on Tuesday 12 July 2022, marking the official end of the by-election.

As required under section 96(11) of the Electoral Act, a statutory notice advising the return of the writ and results for the by-election was published in the Government Gazette on 28 July 2022.

Multiple voting

EMO devices were used at the by-election to mark electors off the electoral roll. At the conclusion of voting, a review of the records was conducted to determine whether any apparent multiple votes were recorded. A total of 15 apparent multiple records were detected; however, following further investigation, it was concluded there was no evidence of voting activity consistent with attempts to vote on multiple occasions.

Non-voters (enforcement of compulsory voting)

A key task following the by-election was to follow up with those electors who appeared not to have voted. Under section 85 of the Electoral Act, electors who appear to have failed to vote are issued a notice within 90 days of polling day, giving them an opportunity to provide a valid reason as to why they did not vote. On 5 August 2022, a total of 2,657 electors who appeared not to have voted were issued a notice.

The notice gave electors 24 days to respond with a valid and sufficient reason for their apparent failure to vote before further action would be taken.

At the conclusion of this period, expiation notices were then issued to 1,129 electors who had either failed to respond to the notice or had not provided an acceptable reason.

Complaints

The feedback and complaint policy and online complaint form were available on the website and in candidate handbooks. In handling complaints, the Electoral Commissioner was supported by a team of complaint management staff as well as solicitors from the Crown Solicitor’s Office who were on call to provide legal advice.

Two complaints containing 3 allegations of breaches of the Electoral Act were received.

Bragg by-election complaints:

Outcomes of alleged breaches of the electoral act

Misleading advertising

The one complaint received was found not to breach the Electoral Act.

Authorisation and size limitations of signage

The one complaint received about unauthorised material and exceeding the size limitations of signage was in breach of the Electoral Act.

No matters were referred for prosecution.

ECSA’s complaints protocol is to acknowledge complaints within 2 business days and resolve most complaints within 5 business days. The 2 complaints received were acknowledged and addressed under the protocol.

Court of disputed returns

No petitions were lodged with the Court of Disputed Returns following the by-election.

Candidate feedback

Five candidates were emailed an invitation to provide feedback through a post-election survey; the sixth candidate did not provide an email address and could not be surveyed.

No candidates responded to the survey.

Elector surveys

Due to its proximity to the state election, a survey of electors for the by-election was not conducted.

Staff surveys

Three surveys were undertaken of the electoral officers who worked at the EVC and polling booths, all of whom were veterans of the recent state election.

Many helpful comments and suggestions were provided about specific areas ECSA can improve on at future by-elections. The feedback from these surveys has been used to closely analyse and improve ECSA’s planning and procedures.

Positive highlights among the findings of the surveys include the following:

Funding and disclosure

Election funding

As with the state election, participants in the by-election had the opportunity to receive public funding. The election funding scheme allows for reimbursement of political expenditure for eligible participants who keep within the expenditure limits set out in the Electoral Act.

Four of the 5 registered political parties participating in the by-election opted to participate in the election funding scheme before the deadline closed. The single independent candidate did not elect to participate in the scheme. Following on from the results of the by-election, 3 of the 4 participating registered political parties qualified for election funding and lodged their returns on time.

By-election expenditure and funding:

Lodgement of disclosures

The capped expenditure period for the by-election extended from 1 June 2022 to 31 August 2022.

All registered political parties, candidates, or third parties who incurred political expenditure over $5,838 during this period were required to lodge a ‘Capped Expenditure Period Return’ within 60 days of polling day.

A total of 4 returns were lodged (one of these was from the independent candidate in circumstances in which the disclosure threshold had not been met). In addition, the sole independent candidate lodged 7 campaign donation returns, with the 5 returns lodged after polling day being lodged late.

The by-election highlighted an issue with the legislation regarding the lodgement of political party returns during the designated period of the by-election. Section 130ZN of the Electoral Act specifies that high-frequency return lodgements by parties are only required during a ‘general election’.

As a consequence, depending on the timing of the by-election, it is possible (as occurred in the Bragg by-election) that registered political parties do not lodge any return setting out their receipts or debts until after polling day.

In this case, the registered political parties that participated in the election funding scheme for the by-election did not lodge political party returns until 1 August 2022, well after polling day, and were not required to lodge expenditure returns until 31 August 2022.

The actual expenditure incurred for the conduct of the by-election was $546,000 for the period from its commencement in May 2022 to January 2023.

As polling day for the by-election was Saturday 2 July 2022, expenditure occurred across 2 financial years: $341,000 in 2021–22 and $205,000 in 2022–23.

Comparison with budget

The budget allocation from the Department of Treasury and Finance (Treasury) for the conduct of the by-election was $540,000. This allocation was determined based on the average estimated cost of conducting the House of Assembly elections during the state election.

The total actual expenditure was $6,000 greater than the budget allocation.

Existing ICT systems were used for the conduct of the by-election. No capital expenditure was required.

The adverse variation was funded by agency cash reserves.

Comparison with 2019 by-election costs

Two by-elections were conducted in 2019—Cheltenham and Enfield—at a total cost of $770,000.

Total actual expenditure for the single 2022 by-election ($546,000) was $161,000 more than half of the 2 by-elections in 2019 ($385,000), primarily due to:

Cost per electors

There was a total of 26,596 electors on the roll for the by-election. The cost per elector was $20.53.

Costs for the by-election: