South Australia election chaos: One Nation seat at risk as uncounted votes discovered in Narungga

The Electoral Commission of South Australia has ordered a recount for a seat won by One Nation after discovering ballots that had not been counted.

“This morning, I have ordered a further count of the district of Narungga, following the discovery of ballot papers that were not counted in the initial count and the subsequent recount,” Acting Commissioner Leah McLay said on Thursday.

“The commission has identified a number of unopened, absent ordinary ballot papers and declaration ballot papers that were returned from the district of Stuart.

“This included 77 absent ordinary ballot papers and four declaration papers for the district of Narungga.

“An earlier recount in Narungga had declared the winning candidate by a margin of 58 votes.”

One Nation’s Chantelle Thomas won the seat in the SA election by a margin of 58 votes over Liberal candidate Tania Stock.

The unopened ballot papers have now been secured, according to the acting commissioner.

Each of the candidates from the seat have now been informed a recount will take place on Friday.

“The purpose of the count is for the commission to determine whether the result would have differed had those ballots been included in the initial count and subsequent recount,” Ms McLay said on Thursday.

If the recount finds another candidate won the seat, the SA Electoral Commission is likely going to find itself in a legal minefield.

Ms McLay said the commission would need to seek legal advice and then work with the Court of Disputed Returns.

The uncounted ballots were in three sealed boxes and returned to the electoral commission, Ms McLay said.

“We have not investigated what the cause of the error was,” she said.

Ms McLay said the SA electoral commission would support any independent external review into the 2026 state election.

Ms Thomas was declared the winner of Narungga earlier in April over the Liberal Party’s Tania Stock following a recount due to the tight voting margin.

It gave One Nation four seats following the March 21 state election in a stunning result for the far-right party.