The Electoral Commission SA is an independent office which forms part of the
Government of South Australia
The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state government, state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the h ...
, and which conducts
parliamentary state elections every four years.
History
In 1907 the then State Electoral Department was established to administer all South Australian parliamentary elections. It was renamed to State Electoral Office in 1993, and to Electoral Commission SA in 2009. Prior to this, elections in South Australia were administered by a "Returning Officer for the Province", an office which had been held by
William Boothby
William Robinson Boothby (26 September 1829 – 12 July 1903) was Electoral Commissioner for South Australia, in charge of every parliamentary election from 1856 to 1903.
Boothby was the eldest son of South Australian Supreme Court Justice B ...
from his appointment in 1854 until his death in 1903. George Hamilton Ayliffe, a long standing public servant, filled the role in the 1905 and 1906 elections and Charles Llandaff Mathews was the first state returning officer appointed under the State Electoral Department.
More than 120 parliamentary elections, by-elections and referendums have been conducted by this Office. The State Electoral Commissioner was first empowered to conduct miscellaneous elections in 1980, and later in 1990 the
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
gave approval for the Commissioner to be appointed returning officer for
local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
elections when requested. In 1999 the Electoral Commissioner was appointed returning officer for all local government elections.
The Commission was the first electoral administration in the world to use computer technology to produce an electoral roll, the first prototype roll scanner, and the development and use of cardboard ballot boxes and voting compartments.
Since 2017, the electoral commissioner has been Mick Sherry. For the previous decade, the electoral commissioner was Kay Mousley, who was the first woman in the role.
[''Adelaide Advertiser'' "First woman at electoral helm", 7 July 2005 page 13 retrieved through Ebbsco's Australia and New Zealand Reference Database 11 December 2006]
Redistributions
Redistributions are handled by the
South Australian Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission
The South Australian Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission is an independent, non partisan commission responsible for the compulsory re-drawing of South Australian House of Assembly electoral districts after each South Australian election.
...
, an independent commission established under the state constitution. The electoral commissioner is a member of this commission.
See also
*
Elections in Australia
Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian states and territories, Australian state and territory and for local government councils. Elections in all ...
References
{{Electoral commissions in Australia
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
Elections in South Australia
Government agencies of South Australia