Transferring fractional surpluses during the 2020 vote count
Dear ACT Electoral Commission,
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2016, I apply for access to documents held by the Commission, including correspondence, relating to:
- the definition of a "surplus" in the Electoral Act 1992 for the 2020 election,
- the decision of the ACT Electoral Commission to treat the definition of a "surplus" in the Electoral Act 1992 as a legislative drafting error for the 2020 election (as described in the eVACS counting module audit report), and
- the decision of the ACT Electoral Commission to make the 2020 version of eVACS count votes by transferring any surplus calculated, including fractional surpluses (as described in the eVACS counting module audit report).
I ask that the documents be supplied to me in electronic form by reply email to this address.
If any of the documents are already available on the Electoral Commission's website or FOI disclosure log, please feel free to supply a URL to those documents, rather than attaching the full document to a reply email.
Yours faithfully,
T Wilson-Brown
OFFICIAL
Dear T Wilson Brown
Please find attached an FOI Acknowledgment letter in relation to your
recent FOI Access application.
Ro Spence | Deputy Electoral Commissioner
ACT Electoral Commission
Phone: 02 6205 0224 | [mobile number]
[1][email address] | [2]www.elections.act.gov.au | [3]facebook |
[4]twitter | [5]youtube
Level 6, 221 London Circuit, Canberra City
References
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OFFICIAL
Dear T Wilson-Brown
Please find attached in relation to your access application, your Access application decision notice and the accompanying Reason for decision notice and schedule of documents.
Also attached are the released documents relevant to your access application.
Ro Spence | Deputy Electoral Commissioner
ACT Electoral Commission
Phone: 02 6205 0224 | [mobile number]
[email address] | www.elections.act.gov.au | facebook | twitter | youtube
Level 6, 221 London Circuit, Canberra City
Dear Ro,
Thank you for providing access to the correspondence between the auditors and Elections ACT.
I'm surprised that this request yielded so few documents. I had expected that you'd have some:
* internal emails,
* file notes,
* software documentation,
* correspondence with candidates or political parties, or
* correspondence with subject matter experts,
about either:
* the definition of a surplus, or
* the fractional transfer decision.
So I'm writing to check if I made a mistake in the scope or wording of my request.
Apart from the audit certificate, which is already available via your FOI disclosure log, are there any other documents relating to the definition or decision?
If you'd like me to submit an additional request with the correct wording, I'm happy to do so. But if these documents genuinely don't exist, I'd prefer that you confirm via a quick email, rather than wasting both our time on a fruitless search.
Yours sincerely,
T Wilson-Brown
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Wilson-Brown
The Deputy and the Electoral Commissioner are both on leave at the moment. We will discuss this matter when the Electoral Commissioner returns early next year.
In the meantime, best wishes for the festive season.
Regards,
Jiv Sekhon | Elections Operations Manager
ACT Electoral Commission
Phone: 02 6205 0046 | [mobile number]
[email address] | www.elections.act.gov.au | facebook | twitter | youtube
Level 6, 221 London Circuit, Canberra City
OFFICIAL
Dear T
Thank you for your email and apologies for the delay in a response, I have been on leave since I addressed your original access application.
I have provided you with details of all of the documents the Commission holds in relation to the decision to treat the definition of a surplus in the Electoral Act as a legislative drafting error which followed the July 2020 amendment to the Act introducing rounding down of vote values to 6 decimal places.
As you will note from the response to the access application and the associated supplied 'schedule of documents', a number of documents in relation to this matter had their release refused on the grounds of legal professional privilege.
Ro Spence | Deputy Electoral Commissioner
ACT Electoral Commission
Phone: 02 6205 0224 | [mobile number]
[email address] | www.elections.act.gov.au | facebook | twitter | youtube
Level 6, 221 London Circuit, Canberra City