Nearly 2,000 Barton Ballots Found at Worker’s Home

Nearly 2,000 ballot papers from the May 3 federal election in the Sydney electorate of Barton were mistakenly taken home by an Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) transport worker instead of being delivered to the central counting centre. The securely packaged ballots had already been counted, did not affect the result—won by Labor's Ash Ambihaipahar—and were recovered intact with unbroken security seals. The incident was detected during a routine second count, with AEC tracking protocols leading to the discovery of the missing container. The AEC expressed deep concern, noting difficulties communicating with the worker, but found no evidence of deliberate wrongdoing. Both the initial and second counts matched, confirming all ballots were accounted for. The AEC has launched a review to strengthen handling procedures and prevent future incidents.