Voters in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide are heading to the polls for the third time this year, as the election commission warns that the result of this Saturday’s Bragg by-election is likely to take days.
Key points:
- Vickie Chapman resigned after the Liberals’ state election defeat
- The Liberal Party has appointed Jack Batty to replace her, while Labor has chosen Alice Rolls
- Voters will go to the polls on Saturday, July 2nd
The by-elections were triggered by the departure of former South Australian Attorney General Vickie Chapman, who left politics after the Liberals lost the state election earlier this year.
Bragg, which occupies most of the city of Burnside and overlaps with Sturt at the federal level, has been occupied by the Liberal Party since the seat was created in 1970.
Liberal-chosen lawyer Jack Batty, who has previously worked for Christopher Pyne and George Brandis, as a candidate.
“I don’t think there’s anything like a safe liberal seat, so we don’t take anything for granted,” Mr Batty said yesterday.
“That’s why we’ve been working so hard throughout this campaign, listening to our community about what matters most to them.”
Batty said he understood voters were frustrated at having to go to the polls for the third time in four months.
“I understand that some people are a little frustrated by the moment of it [Vickie Chapman’s] decision to leave, however, no matter how frustrating some people may find it, is also an opportunity, ”he said.
“It is an opportunity for us to refresh and renew our team and [to] to achieve a strong local voice in parliament in this new liberal team. ”
Bragg’s by-elections were called after Vickie Chapman’s departure. (ABC News)
Labor candidate Alice Rolls, also a lawyer who has worked for two of Australia’s largest commercial law firms, has been working from home this week after her daughter tested positive for COVID-19.
“It’s not what we planned, but like so many other young families in South Australia, we’re juggling COVID and the kids and working, so we’ve made the most of it,” Ms Rolls said on Friday.
“What I did the last seven days was change the campaign a little bit to be at home, call the electorate by making calls and introduce myself and see if people have any issues that I would like to raise.”
Ms Rolls said the community had welcomed her throughout the campaign.
“What people are telling me is that they haven’t knocked on their door in this community for almost 40 years,” he said.
“They’ve been very receptive to me doing just that.”
Environmentalist James Bastiras is the Greens candidate and history teacher Daryl McCann represents Family First.
The Rose Park stand in Bragg’s by-election. (ABC News: Eugene Boisvert)
According to the South Australian Electoral Commission (ECSA), more than 4,500 early votes were cast in the by-elections with a similar number of postal voting applications submitted.
“Bragg’s by-elections have continued the trend we saw in the recent state elections of a higher rate of people voting early or by mail,” said ECSA communications director James Trebilcock.
“More than a third of the votes in Bragg ‘s by – election are declaration votes and will not be counted until Monday.
“With this number of declaration votes, it is possible that the results of Bragg’s by-elections will not be known until next week, after counting the declaration votes.”
The Electoral Law specifies that ordinary votes cast on the day of the vote are counted first and declaration votes shall not be counted until the Monday following the day of the vote.