QUEENSLAND ELECTION 2009

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QUEENSLAND

ELECTION 2009

SATURDAY

21 MARCH 2009

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Electoral Commission of Queensland

2009

DETAILS OF POLLING AT QUEENSLAND GENERAL

ELECTION

Held on SATURDAY 21 MARCH 2009

The Honourable Cameron Dick MP

Attorney-General and

Minister for Industrial Relations

Dear Attorney

Pursuant to section 19(2) of the

Electoral Act 1992

, I am pleased to submit for

presentation to Parliament, the Evaluation Report and details of polling at the

State General Election held on 21 March 2009.

David Kerslake

Electoral Commissioner

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Queensland State General Election 2009

Statistical Returns

Electoral Commission of Queensland

ISBN No. 978-0-7242-6867-2

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Queensland State General Election 2009

Statistical Returns

Electoral Commission of Queensland

ISBN No. 978-0-7242-6867-2

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FOREWORD

The Electoral Commission of Queensland is an independent body set up by the Queensland Parliament under the Electoral Act 1992. Its responsibilities include the conduct of State elections. The General Election held on 21 March 2009 was the seventh conducted by the Commission since its formation in 1991.

One of the Commission’s key responsibilities is to ensure public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of our electoral system. We also aim at each electoral event to maintain and improve ease of access to voting facilities for all electors. To measure its success in meeting these objectives, the Commission conducts a comprehensive evaluation of each general election and reports publicly on the outcome. This report is tabled in Parliament and further copies can be downloaded from the Commission’s website www.ecq.qld.gov.au

The writ for the 2009 Election was issued on Monday 23 February 2009, allowing an election period of 27 days. In accordance with section 80 of the Electoral Act, the cut-off day for the close of the Electoral Roll was Saturday 28 February 2009. A total of 2,660,940 eligible Queenslanders were enrolled at that point. 90.93% of enrolled electors, or 2,419,559 in total, actually voted at the election, compared with 90.47% participation at the 2006 Election.

By the close of nominations at 12.00 noon on Tuesday 3 March 2009, a total of 397 candidate nominations had been lodged, compared with 329 candidates in 2006. All but one of the seven political parties registered for State electoral purposes contested the election.1_{At the conclusion of} counting the overall result2_{was as follows:}

 Australian Labor Party 51 seats

 LNP 34 seats

 Independent 4 seats

In the absence of fixed term elections, the planning and coordination of a State general election is a particularly complex challenge - a small agency with just over 30 full time staff responsible for coordinating the biggest single event held in Queensland every three years. The period in between general elections is therefore critical, allowing the Commission to upgrade and test its election systems and procedures, as well as training staff such as Returning Officers in readiness for the next event. In the lead up to 2009, the time available for planning and development was restricted by the Commission’s responsibility for conducting other major events such as the 2008 City of Brisbane elections, the 2008 Quadrennial Local Government elections (the first time the Commission was given this responsibility) and redistributions for both the Queensland Parliament and the Brisbane City Council. Despite the limited lead time, feedback to the Commission indicates that the overall conduct of the election was a resounding success.

Evaluation of the Commission’s election performance was undertaken in two ways. The first encompassed systematic surveys to measure levels of satisfaction among clients and stakeholders. These included voters, candidates, political parties and polling officials. A detailed analysis of client feedback can be found at part 4 of this report. The second was an internal evaluation process that reviewed the conduct of key operational areas and project management. It should be acknowledged that the second part of the evaluation was to some extent subjective. The Commission was nevertheless pleased with the effectiveness of recent enhancements to our election technology. A number of innovative systems and procedures were trialled to improve the experience of voters. These are reported on below.

It is no mean feat to conduct an event as major as a State general election (catering for over 2.6 million eligible voters), at such short notice and within such a tight timeframe. During the actual

1_{The Fishing Party (Qld) did not contest this election.}

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FOREWORD

The Electoral Commission of Queensland is an independent body set up by the Queensland Parliament under the Electoral Act 1992. Its responsibilities include the conduct of State elections. The General Election held on 21 March 2009 was the seventh conducted by the Commission since its formation in 1991.

One of the Commission’s key responsibilities is to ensure public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of our electoral system. We also aim at each electoral event to maintain and improve ease of access to voting facilities for all electors. To measure its success in meeting these objectives, the Commission conducts a comprehensive evaluation of each general election and reports publicly on the outcome. This report is tabled in Parliament and further copies can be downloaded from the Commission’s website www.ecq.qld.gov.au

The writ for the 2009 Election was issued on Monday 23 February 2009, allowing an election period of 27 days. In accordance with section 80 of the Electoral Act, the cut-off day for the close of the Electoral Roll was Saturday 28 February 2009. A total of 2,660,940 eligible Queenslanders were enrolled at that point. 90.93% of enrolled electors, or 2,419,559 in total, actually voted at the election, compared with 90.47% participation at the 2006 Election.

By the close of nominations at 12.00 noon on Tuesday 3 March 2009, a total of 397 candidate nominations had been lodged, compared with 329 candidates in 2006. All but one of the seven political parties registered for State electoral purposes contested the election.1_{At the conclusion of} counting the overall result2_{was as follows:}

 Australian Labor Party 51 seats

 LNP 34 seats

 Independent 4 seats

In the absence of fixed term elections, the planning and coordination of a State general election is a particularly complex challenge - a small agency with just over 30 full time staff responsible for coordinating the biggest single event held in Queensland every three years. The period in between general elections is therefore critical, allowing the Commission to upgrade and test its election systems and procedures, as well as training staff such as Returning Officers in readiness for the next event. In the lead up to 2009, the time available for planning and development was restricted by the Commission’s responsibility for conducting other major events such as the 2008 City of Brisbane elections, the 2008 Quadrennial Local Government elections (the first time the Commission was given this responsibility) and redistributions for both the Queensland Parliament and the Brisbane City Council. Despite the limited lead time, feedback to the Commission indicates that the overall conduct of the election was a resounding success.

Evaluation of the Commission’s election performance was undertaken in two ways. The first encompassed systematic surveys to measure levels of satisfaction among clients and stakeholders. These included voters, candidates, political parties and polling officials. A detailed analysis of client feedback can be found at part 4 of this report. The second was an internal evaluation process that reviewed the conduct of key operational areas and project management. It should be acknowledged that the second part of the evaluation was to some extent subjective. The Commission was nevertheless pleased with the effectiveness of recent enhancements to our election technology. A number of innovative systems and procedures were trialled to improve the experience of voters. These are reported on below.

It is no mean feat to conduct an event as major as a State general election (catering for over 2.6 million eligible voters), at such short notice and within such a tight timeframe. During the actual

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PART 1: INNOVATIONS

The Commission put in place a number of organisational and technological innovations for the 2009 State General Election, some of which had been trialled at the 2008 Quadrennial Local Government elections.

‘Office in a Box’

The Commission finds out that an election has been called at the same time as everyone else in the community. This late notice creates enormous difficulties in having offices in each electoral district (with the telecommunications infrastructure necessary to meet Returning Officers’ needs) up and running immediately. The only way that this could be managed in the past was to rent and equip offices well in advance, with unavoidable add on costs.

The development of the ‘Office in a Box’ has helped to address this problem. The system employs wireless technology to connect Returning Officers in regional and remote areas to the Commission’s central information systems. It consists of a networking device, notebook computers and multi function laser printers which, with the addition of mobile phones, provide Returning Officers with a portable, multi-functional office. The equipment is designed to be assembled by Returning Officers themselves, which enables it to be deployed rapidly. Linking the system to the Commission via a private network provides a high level of security, as well as allowing technical support to be provided directly from our head office. Associated costs are comparable to equivalent fixed line solutions. The value of this new concept is demonstrated by the high level of interest generated among our electoral counterparts elsewhere in Australia.

Hand held computers (PDA)

Absent voting has customarily taken much longer that ordinary voting, partly because of the time taken for polling officials to check each elector’s enrolment details. That has changed with the roll out, at all polling booths and pre-poll centres, of hand held computers equipped with an electronic copy of the State electoral roll. This equipment allows polling officials to verify an elector’s enrolment details quickly and easily and ensure the correct ballot paper is issued.

Computerised issue of ballot papers

Managing absent voting is particularly challenging at the All Districts booth in the heart of Brisbane, which at each election takes a large volume number of votes from all over Queensland, in the past with lengthy queues and polling officials busily trying to direct electors to the voting station for their particular electorate. For the 2009 State Election the Commission deployed lap top computers, each loaded with a full copy of the electoral roll and with its own printer attached. Electors were marked off the roll electronically and had their ballot paper issued, all within a matter of seconds (especially if they brought with them the tear off card from their voter’s letter, which was bar-coded to speed up the process). Instead of queuing at a particular point, electors could go to any voting station. This initiative was an outstanding success and the Commission will look to deploying this system in other busy inner-city areas in future.

Braille ballot papers

In the past, blind and vision impaired electors have been denied the right to a secret vote because they needed assistance when filling out the ballot paper. For the 2009 Election, the Commission made Braille ballot papers available to blind electors on request.

Candidate portal

The Electoral Act provides that, to be eligible to nominate, candidates must be on the Queensland Electoral Roll and must be nominated (in the case of endorsed candidates) by the registered officer of a political party or (for independent candidates) by six or more persons enrolled for that electoral district.

At previous elections, problems occurred when some candidates left it to the last minute to submit their nomination, only to find that there was a defect in their nomination. For 2009, the Commission established a ‘candidate portal’ on its website which enabled parties and candidates election period, the Commission expands significantly from its permanent complement of staff.

Returning Officers are employed in every one of the State’s 89 electoral districts, as well as a significant number of temporary staff at head office. Around 9000 polling officials are employed throughout Queensland just for election day. I would like to take this opportunity to thank as well as congratulate all of our staff for their outstanding efforts. I also extend my thanks to key stakeholders: CITEC for its expertise in the development of election information systems; the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) for its assistance with the preparation of roll products for the election; Salmat for the scanning of certified lists and assistance with the preparation of other key products; McCall’s Public Relations and George Patterson for their expert assistance in media and advertising matters respectively; the Government Printer; political parties and candidates; and a range of other organisations for their co-operation and assistance.

The Commission prides itself on being a forward-looking organisation constantly on the lookout for ways that it can improve its level of service and will continue to look for innovative ways to improve service delivery at future elections. This evaluation will contribute to that ongoing improvement.

David Kerslake

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PART 1: INNOVATIONS

The Commission put in place a number of organisational and technological innovations for the 2009 State General Election, some of which had been trialled at the 2008 Quadrennial Local Government elections.

‘Office in a Box’

The Commission finds out that an election has been called at the same time as everyone else in the community. This late notice creates enormous difficulties in having offices in each electoral district (with the telecommunications infrastructure necessary to meet Returning Officers’ needs) up and running immediately. The only way that this could be managed in the past was to rent and equip offices well in advance, with unavoidable add on costs.

The development of the ‘Office in a Box’ has helped to address this problem. The system employs wireless technology to connect Returning Officers in regional and remote areas to the Commission’s central information systems. It consists of a networking device, notebook computers and multi function laser printers which, with the addition of mobile phones, provide Returning Officers with a portable, multi-functional office. The equipment is designed to be assembled by Returning Officers themselves, which enables it to be deployed rapidly. Linking the system to the Commission via a private network provides a high level of security, as well as allowing technical support to be provided directly from our head office. Associated costs are comparable to equivalent fixed line solutions. The value of this new concept is demonstrated by the high level of interest generated among our electoral counterparts elsewhere in Australia.

Hand held computers (PDA)

Absent voting has customarily taken much longer that ordinary voting, partly because of the time taken for polling officials to check each elector’s enrolment details. That has changed with the roll out, at all polling booths and pre-poll centres, of hand held computers equipped with an electronic copy of the State electoral roll. This equipment allows polling officials to verify an elector’s enrolment details quickly and easily and ensure the correct ballot paper is issued.

Computerised issue of ballot papers

Managing absent voting is particularly challenging at the All Districts booth in the heart of Brisbane, which at each election takes a large volume number of votes from all over Queensland, in the past with lengthy queues and polling officials busily trying to direct electors to the voting station for their particular electorate. For the 2009 State Election the Commission deployed lap top computers, each loaded with a full copy of the electoral roll and with its own printer attached. Electors were marked off the roll electronically and had their ballot paper issued, all within a matter of seconds (especially if they brought with them the tear off card from their voter’s letter, which was bar-coded to speed up the process). Instead of queuing at a particular point, electors could go to any voting station. This initiative was an outstanding success and the Commission will look to deploying this system in other busy inner-city areas in future.

Braille ballot papers

In the past, blind and vision impaired electors have been denied the right to a secret vote because they needed assistance when filling out the ballot paper. For the 2009 Election, the Commission made Braille ballot papers available to blind electors on request.

Candidate portal

The Electoral Act provides that, to be eligible to nominate, candidates must be on the Queensland Electoral Roll and must be nominated (in the case of endorsed candidates) by the registered officer of a political party or (for independent candidates) by six or more persons enrolled for that electoral district.

election period, the Commission expands significantly from its permanent complement of staff. Returning Officers are employed in every one of the State’s 89 electoral districts, as well as a significant number of temporary staff at head office. Around 9000 polling officials are employed throughout Queensland just for election day. I would like to take this opportunity to thank as well as congratulate all of our staff for their outstanding efforts. I also extend my thanks to key stakeholders: CITEC for its expertise in the development of election information systems; the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) for its assistance with the preparation of roll products for the election; Salmat for the scanning of certified lists and assistance with the preparation of other key products; McCall’s Public Relations and George Patterson for their expert assistance in media and advertising matters respectively; the Government Printer; political parties and candidates; and a range of other organisations for their co-operation and assistance.

The Commission prides itself on being a forward-looking organisation constantly on the lookout for ways that it can improve its level of service and will continue to look for innovative ways to improve service delivery at future elections. This evaluation will contribute to that ongoing improvement.

David Kerslake

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PART 2: CONDUCT OF THE ELECTION

Election snapshot Electoral districts 89 Candidate nominations 397 Enrolled electors 2,660,940 Votes counted 2,419,559 Polling places: Polling Booths 1,700 Declared Institutions 569 Pre-Poll Centres 243

Employed election staff 9,690

Cost:

Cost of election operations $14.25 million

Public funding for candidates and parties $3.6 million

Election timetable

The logistical challenges involved in successfully conducting a State general election are illustrated by the chain of critical events that needs to be put in place in order for an elector’s vote to be cast and counted.

The chain begins with a process of voter registration – every Australian citizen aged 18 or over is required to enrol to vote. Once the writ for the 2009 Election was issued, electors had a period of five days in which to enrol or to update their enrolment details. After the cut-off point (Saturday 28 February) the Commission had a period of 24 hours to prepare the roll in readiness for the onrush of elector enquiries. The Australian Electoral Commission provided invaluable assistance with this task.

Nominations for candidates closed on Tuesday 3 March. Unlike federal elections (where a 24 hour processing period is allowed after the close of nominations), at a State election the Commission’s Returning Officers are required to conduct the draw for ballot paper positions immediately.

Electors unable to attend a polling booth on election day have the option of voting beforehand at a pre-poll centre or can apply for a postal vote. Once the ballot paper draw is completed, the Commission is required to commence the printing and distribution of ballot papers immediately in readiness for pre-poll voting (which for this election commenced on Monday 9 March). Despatch of postal votes commenced on Wednesday 4 March.

Polling day for the 2009 Election was Saturday 21 March, 26 days after the issue of the writ. Although the elector’s involvement ceases at that point, electoral officials are required to continue counting votes for a period of 10 days after polling day to allow for the return of postal votes, as well as conducting a full preference count. Results in particular electorates often cannot be declared until the preference count is concluded. The result of the general election was formally communicated to the Governor on 7 April 2009, two weeks earlier than the deadline specified in the writ.

to fill in their nomination details online. This form still needed to be downloaded and signed (in accordance with legislative requirements) but enrolment details for candidates and nominators could be verified online beforehand to ensure that everything was in order.

Online applications for employment as a polling official

For the first time at a State election, prospective polling officials were able to register their interest online. The registration process enabled the provision of personal and contact details, a brief outline of election experience and details of work preferences. This process provided a fast and efficient registration process with offers of employment and appointment documentation sent and received via electronic email wherever possible. A total of 17,012 expressions of interest were received for the 9,943 positions offered at the election.

Centralised postal voting

The Commission established a Central Postal Vote Centre to handle the processing of postal vote applications. The centre was located at Woolloongabba and was responsible for the receipt and initial processing of all applications for postal voting material. Each application was entered into the Commission’s computerised system, electronically scanned to assist with the scrutiny process and electronically forwarded to the relevant Returning Officer who was responsible for issuing each vote locally.

The centralisation of the initial phase of the postal voting process was aimed at reducing the pressure placed on Returning Officers by the ever increasing rate of postal voting, allowing them more time for other important tasks. Returning Officers were no longer responsible for the actual processing of applications, while forwarding the processed application to them allowed ballot material to be despatched locally, as far as possible speeding up mail delivery. It should be noted that the effectiveness of any system the Commission adopts ultimately relies upon a number of variables: the overall number of applications and the number arriving at any particular time; the length of time before an elector actually applies; the prompt passing on of applications sent in the first instance to political parties; and the passage of mail particularly to and from remote parts of Queensland.

Facility for tracking the progress of postal vote applications

For the first time at any Queensland election, postal vote applicants with access to the internet were able to enter the Commission’s website and check on the progress of their application to ascertain when they could expect to receive their ballot material.

Public access to tally room

Given the importance of democracy being ‘seen’ in action, as well as the public investment in the cost of staging the event, the Commission decided to open the tally room to the public for the first time. Fortunately the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre at Southbank was available on polling day (the absence of fixed term elections makes it impossible to book such a facility well in advance), providing a venue that was both secure and readily accessible to the public. The Commission was delighted with the public response, which added considerably to the atmosphere and ‘drama’ of the occasion, and we were particularly pleased to see the number of young people who attended with other members of their family. The Commission expresses its appreciation of the assistance provided by members of the media in letting the public know they were able to attend.

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