Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian has ended weeks of speculation by lodging a petition with the Court of Disputed Returns, challenging the result in Bradfield.
In a statement, Ms Kapterian said that this “decision is taken to ensure the intentions of the voters of Bradfield are accurately reflected in the final count”, and that “we are requesting a targeted final examination of a small number of ‘line ball’ ballots that were reserved and considered by the Australian Electoral Officer during the counts”.
This challenge is similar to the circumstance of the 2007 federal election, where the Liberals launched a bid against Labor in the Victorian seat of McEwen, citing irregularities with the original count. Labor’s Rob Mitchell initially defeated the Liberals by a mere 7 votes. Following the court arbitrating certain ballot papers, the result was overturned, and the Liberals’ Fran Bailey was declared the winner by 27 votes.
If the court instead declares the result void, the people of Bradfield will head back to the ballot box for a 2nd time this year. There have only been 50 challenges to the House of Representatives results, since the inception of the Court of Disputed Returns. Only 6 of these challenges ended up voiding the result and forcing a by-election.
The Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, would be hoping for a successful legal challenge; potentially paving the way for the Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications, to enter the parliament. This would provide Ley with crucial support, following the Liberal leadership election where Ley defeated Angus Taylor by 29 to 25 votes. Kapterian, along with Senators Hollie Hughes and Linda Reynolds – whose terms have now expired – voted for Ley. Without their presence, Ley holds onto the leadership by a single thread.
Bradfield has already had its fair share of political theatrics, with an initial count that saw Kapterian lead by 8 votes. After a nail-biting recount, Nicolette Boele wrestled the once blue-ribbon seat by a razor-thin 26 votes, ending 75 years of Liberal hegemony.
The battle for this North Shore seat, and the leadership of the Liberal party is not over just yet.
