News came in yesterday that One Nation's successful candidate in the South Australian seat of Narungga, Chantelle Thomas, faced yet another vote recount after a bag of uncounted absentee votes from a neighbouring electorate was suddenly discovered by the electoral commission.

The ballot papers will be counted this morning. Given the seat was decided by only 58 votes, the outcome could be changed although it's still unlikely.

However, it's yet another troubling incident emerging from the South Australian election which has called into question the competence of the Electoral Commission of SA, the integrity of the election itself and the role played by Labor's confusing new electoral laws in SA (new laws supported by the Liberals).

A One Nation earthquake has changed SA's political landscape forever. Every institution in the state is going to have to learn how to navigate it. That includes the electoral commission.

Long before the election took place, the signs were clear that One Nation's impact would be substantial even if the party had not obviously exceeded those expectations and that many more parties and candidates would be contesting seats.
However the electoral commission seems not to have been prepared for it. Many polling booths had insufficient staff, regional centres had limited voting opportunities and in some cases didn't even have a polling booth open on election day.

Labor's new electoral laws also had the electoral commission confused. One Nation worked exhaustively with the commission to ensure we complied with them, but in some cases the commission's advice was that they weren't sure how the new laws would be applied.
One Nation has always championed stronger election integrity. One of the party's first tasks when it enters the SA Parliament next month will be to move an inquiry into the commission's conduct of the election.
Chantelle, meanwhile, has told the media her community is being forced to wait yet again.

"This is very disappointing for my community in Narungga," she said. "We're being forced to wait - again - to see who will be Narungga's representative in Parliament.

"Let's be clear: this raises serious questions about the integrity of the election, whether the electoral commission was fully prepared for it, and how Labor's new electoral laws - passed with the Liberals' support - impacted on the commission's preparations.

"Like everyone else, I'll have to wait for the count. Afterwards I'm sure there will be more to say about it."