No campaigners make unfounded claims that crosses on ballots could invalidate 5% of referendum vote

Fair Australia field director tells volunteers ticks and crosses issue could affect large proportion of vote despite less than 1% of votes in 1999 referendum being informal

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Anti-voice campaigners are making unfounded claims about the impact ticks and crosses on ballot papers could have on the outcome of the referendum, with one campaigner claiming to volunteers that the issue could account for “5% of the vote” being discounted.

The Australian Electoral Commission has repeatedly rebuffed concerns about a decades-old rule that papers marked with a tick may be counted, but papers marked with a cross would likely be discounted due to the ambiguity of crosses. The no campaign has seized on the issue, claiming that allowing ticks to be counted in some cases would favour the yes campaign, despite the AEC pushing voters to write either “yes” or “no’.

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