A razor-thin election victory for Australia’s One Nation party in the state of South Australia has been thrown into uncertainty after election officials uncovered dozens of overlooked ballots that could overturn the initial result.
Chantelle Thomas, running on behalf of Pauline Hanson’s right-wing populist party, was officially declared the winner of the regional Narungga seat in last month’s state election, holding a wafer-thin 58-vote advantage over her closest competitor, Liberal Party candidate Tania Stock. That narrow margin, the smallest of any contest across the entire election, meant Thomas’s victory was not finalized until April 2, nearly two full weeks after polling closed on March 21. The Narungga electorate covers most of South Australia’s rural Yorke Peninsula region.
The entire outcome was upended this week when election administrators discovered 77 uncounted absent ballots that had not been included in the original final tally. Critically, the number of uncounted votes exceeds Thomas’s winning majority by 19 votes, opening the door for the result to be reversed.
On Thursday, the Electoral Commission of South Australia officially notified all competing candidates of the discovery and ordered a full recount scheduled for Friday April 17. “Following the discovery of votes that have not been counted, I have secured the unopened ballot papers and have ordered a further count for the district of Narungga,” explained Leah McLay, the commission’s acting commissioner. “I have informed all candidates and will oversee the count on Friday, April 17 and nominated scrutineers are invited to attend.”
Reaction to the administrative blunder has been sharp, with One Nation’s South Australian leader Cory Bernardi launching a scathing attack on the electoral commission’s competence. “How can we rely on the integrity of what has transpired?” Bernardi told local outlet The Advertiser. “Now there’s plenty of questions to be asked and I think the answers need to be forthcoming, but this is very shaky territory for democracy right now.”
For the opposition Liberal Party, leadership has called for rapid transparency from election officials to clear up widespread public confusion. “Who knows what this will mean for the seat of Narungga, but that’s why I think the electoral commission needs to provide some clarity to people quickly,” said Ashton Hurn, leader of the South Australian Liberals, in comments to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Stock, the Liberal candidate who placed second in the original count, told reporters she had not yet been contacted by the commission and was unaware of the planned recount when approached for comment.
All parties and local voters are now bracing for an anxious 24 hours as the recount gets underway, with the final result of the closely contested seat hanging in the balance. The unforeseen error has sparked broader questions about the integrity of South Australia’s election administration, even as officials move quickly to correct the mistake and confirm a definitive final result.