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Chantelle Thomas recently secured the Yorke Peninsula seat with an incredibly narrow victory, edging out her opponent by just 58 votes. This slim margin initially led to a recount to double-check the accuracy of the results.
However, the electoral process took another unexpected turn when South Australia’s Electoral Commission (ECSA) announced the necessity of a second recount. This decision came after the discovery of 81 unopened ballot papers in the neighboring district of Stuart, potentially impacting the final outcome.
The unopened ballots were retrieved from the Port Pirie early voting center earlier this week, as confirmed by Deputy Premier Kyam Maher. This prompted the commission to take immediate action to ensure the integrity of the election process.
Leah McLay, acting commissioner for the ECSA, reached out to all involved candidates to inform them of the upcoming third count. This step aims to maintain transparency and fairness in the electoral proceedings, providing a clear resolution to a closely contested race.
The commission said its acting commissioner Leah McLay contacted all candidates to notify them of the third count.
“Following the discovery of votes that have not been counted, I have secured the unopened ballot papers and have ordered a further count for the district of Narungga,” McLay said.
“The Commission will support any independent external review into the 2026 State Election and South Australian First Nations Voice to Parliament Election.”
The recount will take place tomorrow, attended by scrutineers and McLay herself.
Thomas slammed news of the recount as “very disappointing for my community in Narungga”.
“We’re being forced to wait – again – to see who will be Narungga’s representative in Parliament,” she said.
“Let’s be clear: this raises serious questions about the integrity of the South Australian election, whether the electoral commission was fully prepared for it, and how Labor’s new electoral laws – passed with Liberal support – impacted on the electoral commission’s preparations.
“Like everyone else, I’ll have to wait for the count on Friday. Afterwards I’m sure there will be more to say about it.”
An independent review into the election has been ordered by the government, Maher said.
“Elections are incredibly complex things to undertake. There are thousands of employees, hundreds of polling booths and over a million votes to count,” Maher said.
“We are now finalising terms of reference and in an addition to that an independent review of how the election was conducted and voters experience.”
Narungga was the final lower house seat to be called in the election, granting Pauline Hanson’s conservative party its fourth seat in Parliament.
The South Australian Liberal Party secured five seats in the Labor Party’s landslide victory on election night.
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