The 151 ballots that the NSW Liberals say should overturn the Bradfield result
Kapterian last week ended weeks of speculation and lodged a petition with the High Court, which sits as the Court of Dispute Returns to hear election challenges, in a bid to be declared victorious in Bradfield instead of teal MP-elect Nicolette Boele.
Boele, who will give her inaugural speech to federal parliament on July 28, won the once blue-ribbon seat after a recount of the northern Sydney seat, which saw her finish 26 votes ahead of Kapterian.
However in her petition, Kapterian says the Australian electoral officer (AEO) – who is the electoral commission's manager in each state – 'wrongly rejected at least 56 of the reserved ballot papers, where those ballot papers indicated a preference, by the voter, for the petitioner ahead of the first respondent'. Boele is listed as the first respondent.
'In each such case the ballot paper was not informal and should not have been rejected,' the petition says, referencing examples such as the officer 'not being satisfied that the figure 1 in one square was distinguishable from the figure in another square'.
Kapterian has not seen the ballot papers, and her legal team will only be provided with them once the AEC hands them to the court. However, her concerns were formed based on feedback and notes taken by scrutineers who were overseeing the final recount.
The AEO was tasked with reviewing and making rulings on 795 reserved ballot papers.
As well as the rejected ballots, Kapterian's petition says the AEO 'wrongly admitted at least 95 of the reserved ballot papers, where those ballot papers indicated a preference, by the voter, for the first respondent ahead of the petitioner'.
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