Copies of 2013 Senate below-the-line preference data files

democracyATwork made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Electoral Commission

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Australian Electoral Commission,

I request that the Electoral Commission as part of its obligations and commitment to maintaining an open and transparent electoral process publish progressively during the data-entry process copies of the electronic data entry preference data files used to tabulate the election results.

This information should be readily available and certified copies of the data files MUST be published prior to the declaration of the polls.

There is no legislative or overriding reason why this information is not published on line as is the case with other electoral results. An electronic record of the data is the same as any other document or record.

It is fundamental that our electoral system is open and transparent and subject to full independent scrutiny

By refusing to make this information available for scrutiny undermines public confidence and brings the Electoral Commission and the election itself into disrepute

Yours faithfully,

Anthony VAN DER CRAATS
SCRUTINEER

Australian Electoral Commission

Thank you for contacting us.

This is an automatic response from the Australian Electoral Commission to confirm we have received your email.

For more information on enrolling to vote, federal elections or the AEC, visit www.aec.gov.au.

Please do not respond to this email.

Locutus Sum left an annotation ()

The applicant has not made any kind of request under the Freedom of Information Act. The letter to the Australian Electoral Commission is, in reality, a suggestion for a new policy. Is Right to Know the place for proposals for policy?

We can expect the answer from the Australian Electoral Commission. It will be short and will say the letter from the applicant is not valide under section 12.

democracyATwork

Dear Australian Electoral Commission,

Your detailed reply and response to this request is outstanding.

Yours faithfully,

democracyATwork

democracyATwork left an annotation ()

The AEC has a policy to not provide access to this information in a timely fashion. But that is the case for all Government departments that do not want to be held to account. The information requested is a public document and is subject to FOI

The AEC has since published copies of the data requested, but it should be published and made available to scrutineers during the counting process.

had this information been published in a timely fashion scrutineers would have been able to properly scrutinise the validity of the vote.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to scrutinise a data-entry count without access to this data file.

The information that has now been published raises a number of issues as to the data quality and the systems in place. had this information been published in a timely fashion these votes could have been identified and rechecked

It is not until the information is made available that these issues become apparent.

Locutus Sum left an annotation ()

Writer's most recent email says a "detailed reply and response to this request is outstanding". That is simply true; there is yet no reply. But the AEC is not late. They do not have an obligation to reply because the FOI Act does not apply to writer's original email. It was not an FOI application! Maybe they will not ever reply.

Du kan ikke tvinge verden.

INFO, Australian Electoral Commission

2 Attachments

For-Official-Use-Only

Thank you for your email to the Australian Electoral Commission.

 

You will find the Senate below the line preferences available for download
on the following page of our Virtual Tally Room under the heading State
Below the Line Preferences:

 

[1]http://vtr.aec.gov.au/SenateDownloadsMen...

 

Regards,

 

Sally Bolton | Project Officer

Education & Communications Branch

Australian Electoral Commission

Canberra ACT

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[2]Australian Electoral Commission logo [3]Australian Electoral Commission

 

-----Original Message-----
From: democracyATwork [mailto:[FOI #419 email]]
Sent: Sunday, 27 October 2013 2:27 AM
To: INFO
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Copies of 2013 Senate
below-the-line preference data files

 

Dear Australian Electoral Commission,

 

Your detailed reply and response to this request is outstanding.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

democracyATwork

 

 

For-Official-Use-Only

 

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