Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now the Northern Territory Electoral Commission has launched launched a
misinformation and disinformation register in the lead up to the
August election. The register provides factual information in response to
prominent false statements about the electoral process and also outlines
any actions taken by the Commission. Joining us on the
line to tell us a little bit more as the
(00:21):
NT Electoral Commissioner Kirsten Kelly, good morning to your commissioner.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good morning Katie. How are you going?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yeah, really good, Thank you so much for your time. Now,
first off, how does the register work?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So the register works by if someone hears or sees
something about the electoral process that they're not quite sure
whether it's right, they can get in contact with the
NT Electoral Commission and let us know what they've seen
or heard or read about the electoral process and then
we'll look into it and if it meets the crime
here it has been incorrect about the electoral process, then
(00:54):
we'll put that on the register so everyone can have
a look. So basically, anything that's missimformation or disinformation about
the electoral process, we want to make sure it's corrected
to the territories have the right information before they go
to the ballot boxes and cars their vote. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Look, I think it's a really fair thing to do.
Why did the Commission feel that it was necessary?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So the Misinformation Information Register was introduced by the Australian
Electoral Commission in the lead up to the twenty twenty
two federal election as a way again of correcting false
information to support voters and having real information about the
electoral process. Because electoral commissions across Australia are the subject
matter experts when it comes to electoral processes, so they
(01:35):
thought it was important to have that register to support
voters in understanding truths about electoral processes and correcting truths
where they're hearing things that it was wrong. And we've
seen that electoral commissions who have had elections since that
time have followed suit and had a similar misinformation Disinformation Register,
and the Norman Territory Elector Comission thought it was important
that we do the same.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Kristin, have you found that there has been false information
or misinformation getting around?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So we've certainly seen from other jurisdictions and their elections
that there can be and sometimes that information is shared
because it's a misunderstanding something' is not that they've heard
something from someone and they're not quite sure if it's right,
or they pass it on and so it goes around.
It may just be incorrect, but it may not be
it may not be an intentional thing, and that's what
misinformation is. So misinformation is a false information shared without
(02:24):
harmful intent and due to a misunderstanding or an error,
which is different from disinformation, which is more defeaitful, where
it's information that's deliberately spread that's false with the intention
of deceiving. So it's important that there's that distinction there
because sometimes someone might send something around because they think
they're sharing information, but it's not quite right, and they're
not doing that to deceive, they're doing it because it's
(02:45):
a misunderstanding. So an example of an entry that was
on the Queensland Electoral Commission Electoral Facts Register was voters
who are not fully vaccinated will not be able to
vote and that's just not true. So having that on
the just provide that truthful clarification of what's factual when
it comes to election process.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, look, I think it's really important now, you know,
you what a situation where people are educated when they
are going to vote and that they know that what
they're reading is obviously the right info. How can people
report false information if they are concerned that what they've
seen could indeed be wrong.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
So they can absolutely go to the Anti Electoral Commission
website that we have an email account, We have a
one eight hundred number where people can to bring up
and either tell us if they've seen or heard or
read something so they're not quite sure of and we
can provide some support and clarifying it and after that
we can look into it. But we certainly asking people
to check the facts and come to the Anti Electoral
(03:45):
Commission website if they're hearing things about the electoral process
to get the clarification and what is actually right. But
when they're hearing information more generally through an election campaign,
to stop and consider the information that they're hearing, a
reading or sing and just thinking about whether it's reliable,
what's the source. Is it a credited media outlet, is
it seem factual? Is it current information? Is it safe information?
(04:09):
Is it a scam? So just to stop and think
about the information that they're hearing and looking for the source.
So whilst the Misinformation Disinformation Register will look at and
correct incorrect information about the electoral process. The Electoral Commission
also has a role in authorizing campaign material, so when
you see campaign material through the election, you should see
(04:30):
that it's authorized, and so people can then go and
see who has authorized it, what the thource of that
information is, and then nowhere to go and see further
information if they want clarification, just.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
A quick one that's a bit sort of off that
level of detail. But on to another thing that people
are obviously wondering about as we lead into the Northern
Territory election, We've had a listener getting in touch wondering
can you explain how preferential voting works.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah, absolutely, Ken. So in the voting system in the
Northern Territory is preferential voting. So what that means is
when and a voter goes to a voting center or
receives a ballot through a postal vote, they're required to
put a number in every box. So that means they'll
put a number in order of the choice, help the
(05:15):
first candidate for the first, second for the second choice, third,
and so on and so forth. And those instructions are
always written on the top of a ballot paper, so
people have that when they go to their secure boost
to vote. So that means for a ballot to be formal,
there needs to be a number in each of the
box show clearly showing the intent of the voter. And
what that means is on election night, we will count
(05:38):
the first preference vote, so we'll look and count to
each candidate where the number ones go, and then as
the process goes through the code, if there's no clear
winner at the end, then we'll do a distribution of
preferences and start to look where the twos go, and
the threes and the fours and so on and so forth.
So that's why it's important that people complete their ballot paper.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Probably, yeah, well, and I think that that's where, you know,
I suppose where people are wondering when it comes down
to going through the second where the twos, the threes, etc.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Go.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
For some people, I suppose they probably maybe trying to
wrap their heads around that when they're thinking to themselves,
hang on that candidate seem to get the most primary votes.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
And that's what happened. So if the person may have
got the first, the most first or the primary vote,
but they didn't reach the quota, or they didn't get
more than fifty percent to be elected. Yep, then we
have to use the preferences to have someone outright elected
and Julie appointed.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Now, is there anything else that people should be aware
of as we do edge closer to polling day? I
know that we're still a little while off, but that
we talk about politics so much on this show, Kirsten,
that a lot of people are wondering, is there anything
else that they do need to be aware of as
we get a bit closer?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Yeah, absolutely, Katie. It's eighty seven days still election, kay,
so it isn't that far away, and there are some
things that territory voters can do. So we've recently launched
a campaign where we're asking people just to check their
enrollment and make sure that they're correctly enrolled at their
address that they're living at. They can do this very
simply by going on to nt Electric Commission website and
check their enrollment details, or they can go onto the
(07:13):
Australian Electric Mission website and do that as well. We're
also asking people to plan where they're going to vote,
and this is really important, so we've already got on
our website all of the voting center locations, and we'll
soon be launching a tool Find my Closest Voting Center,
so everyone will be able to see where there's voting opportunities.
So you might see where the early voting centers are
(07:33):
the two weeks before election day, where mobile voting teams
are visiting in remote communities, and where election day voting
centers are. And if none of those are available to
you because you're going to be away or overseas, consider
a postal vote or if a postal vote might be
your option where you're not able to attend a voting center,
And if none of the options of valuable, please bring
up the Anti Electric Commission and we'll certainly talk about
(07:55):
your options to make sure you can participate and if
you're unable to, just to recall that you're unable to
participate in the election.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Kirstin. One that's just come through from one of our
listeners saying, just a question for the Electoral Commissioner, how
are you going to control social media because that's where
some of that misinformation and disinformation is going to start
to take root.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Absolutely, and that's a really great question. And we will
have our communications team, a small team monitoring social media
and where we are seeing that information, will be certainly
looking into it and correcting it where it meets the threshold.
So we will be doing some active monitoring and we
also would encourage people who are seeing it through their
channels as well just to report it to us as well.
(08:40):
We do have a Facebook site, so we'll certainly be
monitoring what comes through on that as well. But there
will be monitoring through our communications team so we can
we can see where information might be spread. That's not
quite right, it needs to be corrected.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah, good idea, good stuff. Eighty seven days till the election. Well,
Kirston Kelly, the Northern TI A Tree electoral commissioner, you're
not the only one couting. We've definitely been counting in
here as well.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
We've got a countdown clock on our antique website. We
look at it every morning and get a little bit
scared and a little bit.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Well, yeah for you guys. It's such an incredibly busy
period of time.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Right it is, And we've got a great team during
great work and it's certainly a very logistical challenge to
service the territories, but we love doing what we do
and so we're excited for it. So yeah, very busy
times but.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah good stuff. Well and Tie Electoral Commissioner Kirsten Kelly
really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much for
having a.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Chat with me anytime. Great, have great day, Katie, you too.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Thank you
Now the Northern Territory Electoral Commission has launched launched a
misinformation and disinformation register in the lead up to the
August election. The register provides factual information in response to
prominent false statements about the electoral process and also outlines
any actions taken by the Commission. Joining us on the
line to tell us a little bit more as the
(00:21):
NT Electoral Commissioner Kirsten Kelly, good morning to your commissioner.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good morning Katie. How are you going?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yeah, really good, Thank you so much for your time. Now,
first off, how does the register work?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So the register works by if someone hears or sees
something about the electoral process that they're not quite sure
whether it's right, they can get in contact with the
NT Electoral Commission and let us know what they've seen
or heard or read about the electoral process and then
we'll look into it and if it meets the crime
here it has been incorrect about the electoral process, then
(00:54):
we'll put that on the register so everyone can have
a look. So basically, anything that's missimformation or disinformation about
the electoral process, we want to make sure it's corrected
to the territories have the right information before they go
to the ballot boxes and cars their vote. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Look, I think it's a really fair thing to do.
Why did the Commission feel that it was necessary?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So the Misinformation Information Register was introduced by the Australian
Electoral Commission in the lead up to the twenty twenty
two federal election as a way again of correcting false
information to support voters and having real information about the
electoral process. Because electoral commissions across Australia are the subject
matter experts when it comes to electoral processes, so they
(01:35):
thought it was important to have that register to support
voters in understanding truths about electoral processes and correcting truths
where they're hearing things that it was wrong. And we've
seen that electoral commissions who have had elections since that
time have followed suit and had a similar misinformation Disinformation Register,
and the Norman Territory Elector Comission thought it was important
that we do the same.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Kristin, have you found that there has been false information
or misinformation getting around?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So we've certainly seen from other jurisdictions and their elections
that there can be and sometimes that information is shared
because it's a misunderstanding something' is not that they've heard
something from someone and they're not quite sure if it's right,
or they pass it on and so it goes around.
It may just be incorrect, but it may not be
it may not be an intentional thing, and that's what
misinformation is. So misinformation is a false information shared without
(02:24):
harmful intent and due to a misunderstanding or an error,
which is different from disinformation, which is more defeaitful, where
it's information that's deliberately spread that's false with the intention
of deceiving. So it's important that there's that distinction there
because sometimes someone might send something around because they think
they're sharing information, but it's not quite right, and they're
not doing that to deceive, they're doing it because it's
(02:45):
a misunderstanding. So an example of an entry that was
on the Queensland Electoral Commission Electoral Facts Register was voters
who are not fully vaccinated will not be able to
vote and that's just not true. So having that on
the just provide that truthful clarification of what's factual when
it comes to election process.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, look, I think it's really important now, you know,
you what a situation where people are educated when they
are going to vote and that they know that what
they're reading is obviously the right info. How can people
report false information if they are concerned that what they've
seen could indeed be wrong.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
So they can absolutely go to the Anti Electoral Commission
website that we have an email account, We have a
one eight hundred number where people can to bring up
and either tell us if they've seen or heard or
read something so they're not quite sure of and we
can provide some support and clarifying it and after that
we can look into it. But we certainly asking people
to check the facts and come to the Anti Electoral
(03:45):
Commission website if they're hearing things about the electoral process
to get the clarification and what is actually right. But
when they're hearing information more generally through an election campaign,
to stop and consider the information that they're hearing, a
reading or sing and just thinking about whether it's reliable,
what's the source. Is it a credited media outlet, is
it seem factual? Is it current information? Is it safe information?
(04:09):
Is it a scam? So just to stop and think
about the information that they're hearing and looking for the source.
So whilst the Misinformation Disinformation Register will look at and
correct incorrect information about the electoral process. The Electoral Commission
also has a role in authorizing campaign material, so when
you see campaign material through the election, you should see
(04:30):
that it's authorized, and so people can then go and
see who has authorized it, what the thource of that
information is, and then nowhere to go and see further
information if they want clarification, just.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
A quick one that's a bit sort of off that
level of detail. But on to another thing that people
are obviously wondering about as we lead into the Northern
Territory election, We've had a listener getting in touch wondering
can you explain how preferential voting works.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah, absolutely, Ken. So in the voting system in the
Northern Territory is preferential voting. So what that means is
when and a voter goes to a voting center or
receives a ballot through a postal vote, they're required to
put a number in every box. So that means they'll
put a number in order of the choice, help the
(05:15):
first candidate for the first, second for the second choice, third,
and so on and so forth. And those instructions are
always written on the top of a ballot paper, so
people have that when they go to their secure boost
to vote. So that means for a ballot to be formal,
there needs to be a number in each of the
box show clearly showing the intent of the voter. And
what that means is on election night, we will count
(05:38):
the first preference vote, so we'll look and count to
each candidate where the number ones go, and then as
the process goes through the code, if there's no clear
winner at the end, then we'll do a distribution of
preferences and start to look where the twos go, and
the threes and the fours and so on and so forth.
So that's why it's important that people complete their ballot paper.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Probably, yeah, well, and I think that that's where, you know,
I suppose where people are wondering when it comes down
to going through the second where the twos, the threes, etc.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Go.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
For some people, I suppose they probably maybe trying to
wrap their heads around that when they're thinking to themselves,
hang on that candidate seem to get the most primary votes.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
And that's what happened. So if the person may have
got the first, the most first or the primary vote,
but they didn't reach the quota, or they didn't get
more than fifty percent to be elected. Yep, then we
have to use the preferences to have someone outright elected
and Julie appointed.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Now, is there anything else that people should be aware
of as we do edge closer to polling day? I
know that we're still a little while off, but that
we talk about politics so much on this show, Kirsten,
that a lot of people are wondering, is there anything
else that they do need to be aware of as
we get a bit closer?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Yeah, absolutely, Katie. It's eighty seven days still election, kay,
so it isn't that far away, and there are some
things that territory voters can do. So we've recently launched
a campaign where we're asking people just to check their
enrollment and make sure that they're correctly enrolled at their
address that they're living at. They can do this very
simply by going on to nt Electric Commission website and
check their enrollment details, or they can go onto the
(07:13):
Australian Electric Mission website and do that as well. We're
also asking people to plan where they're going to vote,
and this is really important, so we've already got on
our website all of the voting center locations, and we'll
soon be launching a tool Find my Closest Voting Center,
so everyone will be able to see where there's voting opportunities.
So you might see where the early voting centers are
(07:33):
the two weeks before election day, where mobile voting teams
are visiting in remote communities, and where election day voting
centers are. And if none of those are available to
you because you're going to be away or overseas, consider
a postal vote or if a postal vote might be
your option where you're not able to attend a voting center,
And if none of the options of valuable, please bring
up the Anti Electric Commission and we'll certainly talk about
(07:55):
your options to make sure you can participate and if
you're unable to, just to recall that you're unable to
participate in the election.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Kirstin. One that's just come through from one of our
listeners saying, just a question for the Electoral Commissioner, how
are you going to control social media because that's where
some of that misinformation and disinformation is going to start
to take root.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Absolutely, and that's a really great question. And we will
have our communications team, a small team monitoring social media
and where we are seeing that information, will be certainly
looking into it and correcting it where it meets the threshold.
So we will be doing some active monitoring and we
also would encourage people who are seeing it through their
channels as well just to report it to us as well.
(08:40):
We do have a Facebook site, so we'll certainly be
monitoring what comes through on that as well. But there
will be monitoring through our communications team so we can
we can see where information might be spread. That's not
quite right, it needs to be corrected.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah, good idea, good stuff. Eighty seven days till the election. Well,
Kirston Kelly, the Northern TI A Tree electoral commissioner, you're
not the only one couting. We've definitely been counting in
here as well.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
We've got a countdown clock on our antique website. We
look at it every morning and get a little bit
scared and a little bit.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Well, yeah for you guys. It's such an incredibly busy
period of time.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Right it is, And we've got a great team during
great work and it's certainly a very logistical challenge to
service the territories, but we love doing what we do
and so we're excited for it. So yeah, very busy
times but.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah good stuff. Well and Tie Electoral Commissioner Kirsten Kelly
really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much for
having a.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Chat with me anytime. Great, have great day, Katie, you too.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Thank you
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