Those checking count for marriage ballot sworn to secrecy
Observers set the task of checking count for the same-sex marriage ballot are never allowed to speak about what they see or hear publicly.
In a bid to maintain the 'integrity of the count' those secretly working at the Fuji Xerox office in Moorebank, a suburb in Sydney's south-west, were forced to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Speaking out before the Australian Bureau of Statistics has destroyed the ballot papers after the results are read on November 15 could see observers face a criminal charge, reports the Guardian.
Speaking out before the Australian Bureau of Statistics has destroyed the ballot papers after the results are read on November 15 could see observers face a criminal charge
But while the ABS plans on destroying the papers 60 days after the results are announced, there is no definitive end to the confidentially agreement, which will 'continue indefinitely beyond the publication of the results of the Survey.'
The yes or no observers will view 230,000 filled in surveys which have been scanned onto a computer and share their 'interpretation' of votes during the count.
There will be debriefing sessions at the end of the process for observers to provide feedback about how the ABS ran the system, but again, they are never to speak of the procedure outside of that time frame.
Deputy statistician Jonathan Palmer said the point of only giving observers a fraction of the total votes was to prevent any one person estimating the outcome of the survey but Labor senator Louise Pratt said there were still flaws in this approach.
Deputy statistician Jonathan Palmer said the point of only giving observers a fraction of the total votes was to prevent any one person estimating the outcome of the survey but Labor senator Louise Pratt said there were still flaws in this approach
'We've pushed for scrutiny and we don't have the scrutiny level that we'd like, but we have to push on in the interest of taking what we can get,' she told the Guardian
'We've pushed for scrutiny and we don't have the scrutiny level that we'd like, but we have to push on in the interest of taking what we can get,' she told the Guardian.
Part of the reason the ballots remain so shrouded in mystery is that, unlike in elections, responses that identify the voter will still be counted.
'In these cases, the observer must not divulge this information to any other person,' the guidelines firmly state.
ABS released a statement saying it was 'carrying out the Australian Marriage Law Postal survey with a high level of transparency and integrity to provide assurance in the accuracy of the data.'
'The ABS has engaged Protiviti to provide external assurance for the Survey. Protiviti will monitor a number of processes such as the survey preparation, dispatch of survey forms, survey receipt and counting, and destruction of forms,' a spokeswoman said.