Possible hiccup in VEC data system

Source: Sykes Media Release

Over recent weeks it has come to the attention of Nationals Member for Benalla, Dr Sykes, that something may be amiss with the way the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) has processed voting papers in the 2008 Benalla Rural City Council Elections.

“I have been contacted by a number of constituents concerned about the issue of Infringement Notices by the VEC for ‘Invalid Response to Apparent Failure to Vote Notice’,” Dr Sykes said.

The ‘Invalid Response to Apparent Failure to Vote Notice’ is issued following a reply by the constituent to an ‘Apparent Failure to Vote Notice’ and comes with a $57.00 Infringement Notice.

“The circumstances behind each case that has come to my attention appear to be similar in that constituents state that voting papers were returned by mail in the VEC envelope provided, albeit in some cases included in an envelope provided for another member of the same household,” Dr Sykes said. “I have raised the issues identified by my constituents directly with the VEC.

“This raises some doubts about the accuracy of the data upon which the VEC is operating, particularly in view of my own personal experiences with inaccurate information being used by the VEC in relation to whether or not I voted at a State Election and a Melbourne City Council Election,” Dr Sykes continued.

“Within any system, particularly where data entry is computerised, there is always the possibility of error – the VEC should resist having implicit faith in the reliability of its system and therefore assume that the voters are at fault in all cases,” Dr Sykes said. “I call upon the VEC to check their system in light of a number of apparently legitimate concerns raised by voters in the Benalla electorate,” he concluded.