Latest news with #GiseleKapterian
AU Financial Review
4 days ago
- Politics
- AU Financial Review
Is that 1 or 7? What the judge will have to decide in Bradfield
Liberal Gisele Kapterian's claim that she belongs in parliament rests on a challenge to 151 questionable ballots, which a judge will now have to decipher one pencil squiggle at a time. Kapterian has applied to the Court of Disputed Returns alleging the Australian Electoral Commission committed 'illegal practices' wrongly including or excluding these ballots in a bid to overturn her 26-vote defeat in a recount that stretched on for more than a month after the May 3 federal election.
ABC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian petitions High Court over 150 ballots
The defeated Liberal candidate for the federal electorate of Bradfield has raised doubts about more than 150 ballots, in a petition asking the High Court to overturn the result. The first full distribution of preferences in the seat on Sydney's north shore had Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian ahead by eight votes, but a recount saw independent Nicolette Boele declared the winner by 26 votes. After almost six weeks, Ms Kapterian announced on Monday she would take the result to the High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns. "We are requesting a targeted final examination of a small number of 'line ball' ballots," Ms Kapterian said in a statement posted to social media. She has now lodged a petition, asking the court to overturn the result and declare her the winner. The petition claims the electoral officer wrongly rejected at least 56 ballots which favoured Ms Kapterian. This includes 22 ballots where the officer concluded certain numbers were not distinguishable from other numbers, and 34 ballots where numbers were deemed illegible. Ms Kapterian argues, taking the ballot papers as a whole, it was clear "that the voter intended to indicate a first preference for 1 candidate and an order of preference for all remaining candidates". Ms Kapterian has further identified at least 93 ballots favouring Ms Boele which she claims were wrongly admitted, despite similar issues. She argues a further two ballots favouring Ms Boele were admitted despite "having upon it a mark or writing … by which the voter could be identified." In her social media post, Ms Kapterian said in launching a legal challenge, she was not questioning the integrity of the electoral system. "This process has only served to reaffirm my faith in Australia's democratic institution," she said. The new parliament is due to sit for the first time next week, and Ms Boele has said she is preparing to deliver her first speech the week after. In her own social media statement, she said she would seek donations to fund her legal costs. "We can't rely on volunteers in the High Court, we need good lawyers and that is expensive," Ms Boele said. It is not yet known when the Court of Disputed Returns might sit to hear the case.
The Age
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
‘I am a fighter': Kapterian reveals why she is challenging the Bradfield result
Liberal candidate for Bradfield Gisele Kapterian says she is not seeking a byelection in the once blue ribbon northern Sydney seat but instead wants a judge to rule on some 800 ballots that she believes could swing the May election result in her favour. Kapterian on Tuesday lodged a petition in the High Court, which sits as the Court of Disputed Returns, in a bid to have the Bradfield result overturned by a judge. Teal candidate Nicolette Boele won Bradfield in a recount, with just 26 votes separating the pair. Kapterian, who has a frontbench position on hold for her in Canberra, said she was expecting a 'short and sharp' hearing which would come at no cost to the taxpayers. Kapterian has indemnity from the Liberal Party in the event of a loss, but Boele is a respondent so will likely incur costs. 'The refs on the field have made a call, and we're going to the video umpire. That's all this is, it is a pure extension of the count,' Kapterian told the Herald in an exclusive interview. 'We're just hoping to make sure that we give a voice to as many of those voters in Bradfield as possible, just to make sure that the count actually reflects those voter intentions. 'I don't anticipate a byelection to be the result of this challenge, and we haven't asked for one.' While Kapterian has not seen the ballots in question, she said between the initial count and the recount about 170 votes that were originally assessed as formal were ruled informal. This was one of the key reasons prompting her to pursue a court challenge. Her legal team, Melbourne-based barristers Philip Crutchfield KC and Dean Luxton, will be provided with access to the ballots once they are lodged with the court.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘I am a fighter': Kapterian reveals why she is challenging the Bradfield result
Liberal candidate for Bradfield Gisele Kapterian says she is not seeking a byelection in the once blue ribbon northern Sydney seat but instead wants a judge to rule on some 800 ballots that she believes could swing the May election result in her favour. Kapterian on Tuesday lodged a petition in the High Court, which sits as the Court of Disputed Returns, in a bid to have the Bradfield result overturned by a judge. Teal candidate Nicolette Boele won Bradfield in a recount, with just 26 votes separating the pair. Kapterian, who has a frontbench position on hold for her in Canberra, said she was expecting a 'short and sharp' hearing which would come at no cost to the taxpayers. Kapterian has indemnity from the Liberal Party in the event of a loss, but Boele is a respondent so will likely incur costs. 'The refs on the field have made a call, and we're going to the video umpire. That's all this is, it is a pure extension of the count,' Kapterian told the Herald in an exclusive interview. 'We're just hoping to make sure that we give a voice to as many of those voters in Bradfield as possible, just to make sure that the count actually reflects those voter intentions. 'I don't anticipate a byelection to be the result of this challenge, and we haven't asked for one.' While Kapterian has not seen the ballots in question, she said between the initial count and the recount about 170 votes that were originally assessed as formal were ruled informal. This was one of the key reasons prompting her to pursue a court challenge. Her legal team, Melbourne-based barristers Philip Crutchfield KC and Dean Luxton, will be provided with access to the ballots once they are lodged with the court.
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Liberal Party to reportedly launch court challenge to the result in seat of Bradfield
The Liberal Party will launch a court challenge after losing the blue-ribbon seat of Bradfield at the May election to community independent Nicolette Boele. Ms Boele defeated the Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian by just 26 votes in a recount that wasn't completed till a month after the May 3 election. On Monday, the Guardian reported the Liberal Party would launch the court challenge, asking a judge to recount some of the ballots. At the end of the recount conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission, Ms Boele had 50.01 per cent of the total vote, ahead of Ms Kapterian's 49.99 per cent. The news comes just a week before parliament sits for the first time since the election, with Ms Boele expected to take her seat on the cross benches.
