Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Melbcity: VEC Missing Vote Tally cloaked in a veil of secrecy

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC)'s Tally for the City of Melbourne shows votes have gone missing.  In spite the City of Melbourne's Returning Officer. Bill Lang. claiming that the data provided to scrutineers was a complete copy of the below the line votes there are votes missing or added into the count that were not disclosed or included in the information provided to scrutineers.

Under the Local Government Legislation the VEC is required to reconcile the number of votes recorded in the computer database prior to running the execute button.  When requested to provide a copy of the reconciliation report the Returning Officer failed to do so.  We wonder why the secrecy?

In 2006 the VEC stuffed up the Legislative Council Northern Metro and Western Metro counts by entering in the wrong data into the computer, No attempt was made to reconcile the number of ballots recorded on the computer records with the number of ballots received.  It is this sought of sloppy administration and cutting corners that continues to bring the VEC into disrepute.  It is made worst when they seek to cover it up and deny information to scrutineers.

Bill Lang said at the scrutineer/candidate's meeting that "the scrutiny of the ballot is not important". Something we strongly disagree with.   The scrutiny of the ballot is just as, if not more, important than the counting of the votes.  Without scrutineers and access to the data there is no way of knowing if the results of the election are correct and that the votes have not been tampered with or that the data-entry is in fact a true record.

Public confidence can only be maintained if the conduct of the election is open and transparent and subject to independent scrutiny.  Something that the VEC has failed to enure is maintained

To highlight the extent of inconsistencies in the VEC's record keeping

On Friday after the close of the poll the VEC reported they had received back a total of 66432 envelopes

The Official Election results published today reports:

Leadership Team (election of 1 Lord Mayor and 1 Deputy Lord Mayor)

Enrolment:108514
Formal Votes:62169
Informal Votes:2827 (4.35% of the total votes)
Voter Turnout:64996 (59.90% of the total enrolment)


Councillors (9 vacancies)

Enrolment:108514
Formal Votes:63664
Informal Votes:1407 (2.16% of the total votes)
Voter Turnout:65071 (59.97% of the total enrolment)

 Anyone viewing this information can tell from looking at the above that ballot papers have gone missing or not accounted for. There is a discrepancy between the Lord Mayors Ballot  (649996) and the Council Ballot (65071) of 75 votes - Presumably they were envelopes that had one ballot paper in them and not the other.

The number of missing ballot papers is greater as not all envelopes that have ballot papers missing would have had Council ballots in them and not the Leadership ballot, Some would have been the other way around.

What is a greater concern is that the number of envelopes reported as being received by the VEC on the Friday was 66432 some 1361 less Council Ballots and 1436 less Leadership ballots. Where did these ballots go?    They could have been ballot papers that were rejected, did not have a signature or no ballot papers were inside the returned envelope.  We just do not know, the VEC failed to provided a reconciliation report as required prior to running the count program.

There are a number of possible errors and faults that can occur with a computer count.  The wrong data can be transcribed and entered into the computers database, as we saw in Western and Northern Metro seats during the 2006 State Election. Votes could be removed from the count or even double counted.  Normally ballots are presorted, prior to counting, into primary votes.  This allows scrutineers to obtain an early primary figure which in turn is then used as a control/check digit to determine if any votes have been left out or mis-recorded.  The Victorian Local Government Act  (Sch 3 cl 11B) requires that votes be sorted into parcels based on the primary vote.  

The VEC sought to cut corners by skipping this very important step in the process of counting the vote and in doing so prevented scrutineers from being able to properly monitor the data-entry and counting process. They were left blind, bamboozled by the claims that the use of computers in the counting of votes was accurate,  But as we know this is not true - like that of a Magic Trick the audience can be readily deceived and distracted.

For the sack of saving $300 to $400 to have staff presort the Council below the line ballot papers into primary votes the VEC undermined and prevented the proper scrutiny of the ballot. The presorting of ballot papers could have been undertaken in parallel with the opening of and the sorting of ballot papers into above-the-line and below-the-line votes. There were only 5500 below-the-line votes - not an onerous task by any stretch..

The conduct of the election count was made worst by the VEC refusing to provide final copies of the computer data-file at the conclusion of the count. Scrutineers were again denied access to crucial information.  Review of the count sheet shows that the results of the election were within 350 votes which could have changed the election outcome.  A wrong figure punched into the computer a 7285 instead of 7825 is all that it would take to produce a different result and no one would know.

The VEC's administrative processes are not good, they certainly do not meet the high professional standard that is employed by the Australian Electoral Commission. There is no independent oversight or review.  The VEC has not been vetted or certified to meet ISO 2000 quality control standards.  It is an organisation that is left wanting with little desire.  

$35 Million Misspent

The VEC spent over $35 Million Dollars developing software (Most of which was outsourced to India). It is still unclear who owns the intellectual property rights for the VEC's election software?  

What we do know is that design of software that developed does not meet current IT industry standards. 

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is by far the better and more professional body. 

Given that the AEC already has in place computer systems and administrative procedures used to conduct elections we have to wonder what is it that Victorian Taxpayers get for their investment. 

Why do we have two public electoral authorities with duplicated resources  when we could have just one professional organisation.  


It is up to our parliamentarians (The Electoral matters Committee) to sort this mess out.  They have to act to restore confidence and integrity, put an end to excessive waste, secrecy and incompetence that engulf the Victorian Electoral Commission.  

The first step would be to subject the VEC to independent review by the office of the State Ombudsman and Auditor General.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Lord Mayor Vote Stats: 2CP

Based on a sample of 41213 votes (The VEC were unwilling to provide copies of the full data set of preferences, so much for their claim of openness and transparency - Computer based counts are not open or transparent in Victoria)

The following Two Candidate Preferred (2CP) statistics show Robert Doyle the clear winner against all candidates


Doyle 2CPP Split Other
60.50% Doyle/Shanahan (Chambelin) 39.50%
62.26% Doyle/Parkes (Greens) 37.74%
59.42% Doyle/Singer (John So - Melbourne Living) 40.58%
63.30% Doyle/Morgan (Elliot) 36.70%
61.29% Doyle/Nolte (Our Melbourne) 38.71%
67.74% Doyle/Rankin (Forward Together) 32.26%


Preference distribution table (To view - copy table below and past into document landscape mode)


ID#
Candidate
To

Team                                                          Preference
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
FORWARD TOGETHER
1
FORWARD TOGETHER
1438











2
SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE

635
417
100
72
80
47
45
41



3
TEAM DOYLE

413
596
87
68
58
56
69
91



4
MORGAN ELLIOTT - PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY

80
85
842
105
81
89
81
75



5
OUR MELBOURNE

84
92
136
572
390
69
49
45



6
THE GREENS

49
68
71
380
535
114
103
117



7
GARY SINGER - JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING

85
75
81
106
123
557
80
330



8
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

48
51
70
61
102
415
584
107



9
PUT PUBLIC FIRST

44
54
51
74
69
91
427
625
2
SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE

1
FORWARD TOGETHER

344
1924
482
425
373
322
199
118


2
SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE
4187











3
TEAM DOYLE

696
492
1801
288
234
141
205
329



4
MORGAN ELLIOTT - PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY

340
349
375
333
1847
302
301
335



5
OUR MELBOURNE

1963
474
486
501
311
262
117
70



6
THE GREENS

362
312
311
326
437
1846
262
325



7
GARY SINGER - JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING

308
337
336
1877
388
489
277
172



8
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

73
160
230
261
323
491
2312
334



9
PUT PUBLIC FIRST

101
139
166
176
274
334
514
2482
3
TEAM DOYLE

1
FORWARD TOGETHER

1182
15671
2180
1759
1466
1302
1003
775



2
SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE

15593
2277
1920
1571
1328
1028
1079
541


3
TEAM DOYLE
25342











4
MORGAN ELLIOTT - PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY

2744
1436
1898
1360
14232
1214
921
1508



5
OUR MELBOURNE

1059
1747
1820
2737
2289
14538
777
349



6
THE GREENS

1164
1031
1150
1268
2075
1578
1397
15629



7
GARY SINGER - JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING

2729
1747
1308
14409
1318
1992
1085
748



8
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

426
807
14189
1300
1546
1973
3534
1563



9
PUT PUBLIC FIRST

445
626
877
938
1088
1717
15546
4101
4
MORGAN ELLIOTT - PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY
1
FORWARD TOGETHER

275
495
780
696
698
3387
441
265



2
SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE

517
841
738
685
510
446
3135
167



3
TEAM DOYLE

1514
638
446
316
304
281
318
3217


4
MORGAN ELLIOTT - PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY
7039











5
OUR MELBOURNE

3358
664
673
845
680
434
232
133



6
THE GREENS

317
3133
445
450
616
566
501
1003



7
GARY SINGER - JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING

754
741
3233
488
496
636
402
289



8
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

146
296
399
3174
540
719
1204
559



9
PUT PUBLIC FIRST

158
231
325
385
3195
570
806
1368
5
OUR MELBOURNE

1
FORWARD TOGETHER

202
263
278
285
1079
239
185
137



2
SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE

1107
340
317
243
231
229
152
51



3
TEAM DOYLE

283
322
244
231
183
201
202
1000



4
MORGAN ELLIOTT - PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY

249
940
251
256
255
217
236
260


5
OUR MELBOURNE
2670











6
THE GREENS

378
203
200
214
260
974
187
250



7
GARY SINGER - JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING

254
328
1017
246
237
317
164
106



8
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

83
148
225
1003
225
298
473
215



9
PUT PUBLIC FIRST

114
126
138
192
200
195
1071
633
6
THE GREENS

1
FORWARD TOGETHER

318
539
691
989
4766
916
530
446



2
SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE

541
701
892
4612
891
677
636
244



3
TEAM DOYLE

826
619
567
496
454
642
775
4815



4
MORGAN ELLIOTT - PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY

338
404
512
633
790
4315
990
1209



5
OUR MELBOURNE

647
700
650
804
852
890
4213
398


6
THE GREENS
9196











7
GARY SINGER - JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING

1547
4446
766
545
452
692
461
280



8
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

4200
1076
701
570
531
584
947
584



9
PUT PUBLIC FIRST

779
711
4417
547
460
480
644
1156
7
GARY SINGER - JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING

1
FORWARD TOGETHER

466
762
921
885
970
4619
595
495



2
SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE

3195
924
993
1041
1935
684
671
267



3
TEAM DOYLE

1431
913
668
1729
3161
558
484
763



4
MORGAN ELLIOTT - PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY

704
737
1888
3511
947
731
568
618



5
OUR MELBOURNE

519
1991
3614
1049
1066
741
513
211



6
THE GREENS

2136
3214
673
553
569
941
707
912


7
GARY SINGER - JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING
9714











8
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

939
615
473
487
591
770
1526
4306



9
PUT PUBLIC FIRST

324
558
484
459
475
670
4650
2093
8
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

1
FORWARD TOGETHER

116
160
166
140
147
134
136
523



2
SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE

74
133
186
572
165
175
152
66



3
TEAM DOYLE

125
130
523
133
125
155
172
160



4
MORGAN ELLIOTT - PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY

62
100
106
180
211
569
138
154



5
OUR MELBOURNE

86
127
148
224
593
179
92
72



6
THE GREENS

154
556
148
102
117
122
164
157



7
GARY SINGER - JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING

296
193
99
88
79
113
563
91


8
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP
1523











9
PUT PUBLIC FIRST

610
124
147
84
86
76
106
288
9
PUT PUBLIC FIRST

1
FORWARD TOGETHER

72
81
103
103
143
119
93
345



2
SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE

44
315
110
151
117
115
170
37



3
TEAM DOYLE

47
62
61
70
95
179
326
218



4
MORGAN ELLIOTT - PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY

47
57
87
94
204
297
134
138



5
OUR MELBOURNE

96
117
114
432
106
92
73
29



6
THE GREENS

426
100
187
70
40
96
65
75



7
GARY SINGER - JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING

100
198
311
82
75
96
127
70



8
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

227
129
86
57
279
65
71
144


9
PUT PUBLIC FIRST
1059