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Why is this a single box people have to write in, rather than two boxes with "yes" or "no" that the voter has to tick, cross, fill in to select?
What if people write yes/no in their own language.
Honestly this set up does seem dumb and leaves so much to for error.
i tend to agree, the instructions are pretty simple, but lets face it some of us have freaking terrible handwriting (and some physically cant due to various disabilities etc). 2 boxes would have been the most foolproof method
I think there'd be a big fight over the order of the boxes
An AEC spokesperson said that was because on many forms, a cross represents a check mark, which can indicate yes.
"It therefore leaves it open to interpretation or challenge by a scrutineer," the spokesperson said.
The AEC said the provision had been in place since 1988, throughout federal elections and referendums, and was the accepted legal advice.
"This is not new," a spokesperson said.
"The AEC does not have any discretion to simply ignore savings provisions. They are a long-standing legislative requirement."
The spokesperson said in the 1999 referendum, the rate of informal votes was just 0.86 per cent, and of those, many would not have been related to ticks and crosses.
It expected the "vast, vast majority" of voters would follow the instructions.
All sounds fairly reasonable to me.
Not to mention Dutton voted in favour of the referendum bill that actually spelled this out. Is he saying he doesn't read the things he votes on?
Didn't he also say he'd implement The Voice himself if elected? This whilst actively encouraging and contributing to the fear mongering about it. The guy has no values or moral compass.
If the instructions say to write yes or no and you put a tick or a cross, you’re too dumb for your vote to count.
Exactly, the AEC even posted a guide on how to vote!
To be honest, I can see where the no campaign is coming from though - seems unfair for ticks to count as a valid vote but crosses to not count.
Remove them both IMO, but that ship has sailed for this particular referendum.
Yep if you count a tick as yes you need to count a cross as no. Super dodgy from the Yes side to try and get both as a yes.
It's just a long-standing way in which the AEC interprets the. It's nothing special to this referendum
shut the almighty FUCK up, Dutton. Sit your bitch arse down.
Potato is going to potato
I don't even care if he's got a valid argument any more I just want the turd to fuck off
Someone find those horcruxes!
Why not have three options:
Surely the answer is to not allow symbols of any kind.
If you cant read the form that clearly says how to respond to the question, genuinely curious if they have the mental capacity to understand the question being put to them.