Adelaide City Council's 2022 Central Ward election is under renewed scrutiny after a judge found the result was affected by "illegal activities". (ABC News: Che Chorley)
In short:
A South Australian court has found that the result of an Adelaide City Council election in 2022 was affected by "illegal practices".
The court found that some ballot papers had been illegally handled by people acting on behalf of candidate Jing Li, who is now a sitting councillor.
What's next?
The judge has asked for submissions about whether he should void the entire Central Ward election, which would force four councillors to recontest their seats.
The result of an Adelaide City Council ward election in 2022 was affected by "illegal practices" involving people handling ballot papers that were not issued to them, a judge has found, in a ruling which could void the election of four sitting councillors.
District Court Judge Michael Burnett on Friday handed down his judgement in a Court of Disputed Returns petition lodged by former Adelaide City councillor Alex Hyde against the Electoral Commissioner and incumbent city councillor, Jing Li.
Cr Li defeated Mr Hyde by 24 votes to win one of the four Central Ward seats at the Adelaide City Council elections held in November 2022.
But the result was immediately mired in controversy, with the Electoral Commissioner revealing at the time he was investigating reports some ballot papers were collected from apartment buildings by individuals not authorised to handle them.
Mr Hyde petitioned the court in December 2022 to void the election result, alleging it was not a "free and fair" election and "persons acting on behalf of the second respondent [Cr Li] took possession or attempted to take possession of postal voting packs".
In his judgement on Friday, Judge Burnett found Mr Hyde had "made out some of the matters that have been alleged in the petition".
"The Court has found that there have been illegal practices and that those illegal practices affected the result of the election," the judge wrote.
The court also found there were "16 identified persons whose ballot papers … were not filled in by them".
Judge Burnett did not void the 2022 Central Ward election but noted "the Court has the power to make such declarations".
He said the parties to the case "should have the opportunity to make submissions as to the appropriate orders to be made".
Four Central Ward councillors, including Deputy Lord Mayor David Elliott, Carmel Noon, Simon Hou and Cr Li, were elected in November 2022.
Cr Elliott, Cr Noon and Cr Hou are not accused of any wrongdoing.
In a statement, Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said the council "must now wait for the court to make its order".
Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith has sought to assure constituents that council services "will continue to be delivered" after the court judgement. (ABC News: Patrick Martin)
"It's a relief to have a judgement after such a long time and we respect the decision of the court," she said.
"In the meantime, it's important to assure our constituents that the functions of Council continue, and services will continue to be delivered."
Court shown evidence of suspicious ballot handling
During the case, the court was shown photographs of two men handling five ballot papers outside the Vision on Morphett apartment building on October 27, 2022 — before ballots were counted in November.
The court was also shown photos of the same two men that day handling 10 ballot papers at the Stonemill Restaurant on Morphett Street.
The judge said these two pieces of evidence substantiated the allegations that "persons, acting on behalf of the second respondent [Cr Li], acted as an assistant to a person voting at the election contrary to s61 (1) of the Elections Act".
Adelaide City Council Central Ward councillor Jing Li. (ABC News: Luke Pike)
Judge Burnett also said these photographs — along with evidence of another man collecting unfilled ballot papers from apartments — substantiated allegations that persons acting on Cr Li's behalf "had in their possession postal voting papers (which had not been issued to them as an elector in their own right)".
Judge Burnett said the photos combined with the court's finding of 16 irregular ballot papers was enough to establish "on the balance of probabilities that the illegal practices affected the result of the election".
A separate allegation that Cr Li engaged in bribery to get votes was dismissed by the court.
Hyde claims 'win for democracy'
Mr Hyde, who was a city councillor from 2018 to 2022, welcomed Friday's judgement.
"This is a win for democracy but serious questions still linger," he said in a statement.
"This judgement, among other things, means that a capital city election in Australia was affected through illegal activities … it has serious implications."
Former Adelaide city councillor Alex Hyde challenged the result of the 2022 Central Ward election. (Supplied: Adelaide City Council)
Mr Hyde, who is currently state director of the SA Liberal Party, has previously expressed doubt to the court about running for council again if a supplementary election is ordered.
Meanwhile, Cr Li said the "matter is still before the court and we have been invited to make submissions".
"It's not appropriate for me to make comments at this stage."