SA election 2026: One Nation accused of handing pre-filled how-to-vote materials at multiple voting booths
Questions about the integrity of the election have been raised in South Australia, with allegations of breaches of rules at polling booths coinciding with technical problems that delayed voters on polling day.
A complaint has been lodged with the South Australian Electoral Commission following allegations Pauline Hanson’s One Nation volunteers distributed pre-filled how-to-vote materials at multiple booths.
If approved, this practice would violate approved election materiel rules that require voters to fill out ballots themselves.
The allegations not only sparked criticism from rival candidates, but also raised concerns within the party.
Jason Wilkinson, One Nation candidate at Unley, said instructions were circulated internally to prevent such behaviour: news.com.au reported.
“I think we should follow the rules,” Mr. Wilkinson said.
He added that messages were shared among candidates reminding volunteers not to distribute pre-marked materials.
The complaint is one of at least two filed with the Electoral Commission. Independent candidate Lou Nicholson said he collected dozens of pre-filled leaflets from a ballot box in the Finniss constituency.
The controversy arose as voters across the state reported significant delays at polling places and some precincts experienced technical issues affecting the voting process.
In Glenelg, some voters faced wait times of up to two hours after computer glitches disrupted operations at polling booths.
Prime Minister Peter Malinauskas acknowledged the problems, saying he had been informed of the outages earlier in the day.
“I’m aware of some disruptions, but they’ve all been sorted out so far,” he said.
“Clearly serious questions need to be asked of the electoral commission and I hope this will not affect people too much.”
Despite the disruptions, polling booths in South Australia remained busy and high turnout was expected as voters cast their ballots.
The election is being held against a backdrop of strong support for the Labor government and shifting voter sentiment; One Nation is also seeing increased interest in the campaign.
