Labor challenges Liberals' key marginal seat win (Australian election)

news.com.au ^ | 29th January 2008

[naturalman1975]

THE Australian Labor Party is challenging the federal election result in the Victorian seat of McEwen which the Liberal Party won by just 12 votes.

.....

Liberal MP Fran Bailey forced a recount when the AEC declared Labor's Rob Mitchell the winner by six votes.

After recounting more than 100,000 ballot papers the AEC determined Ms Bailey had won the seat by 12 votes, making McEwen the country's most marginal lower house seat.

.....

"These votes were excluded by the AEC on the grounds that one or more of the numbers on those ballot-papers had been badly written, even though examination of the ballot-paper as a whole makes the voter's intention clear.

[naturalman1975]

Shades of hanging chads...