No, an election official did not tamper with a ballot in Saturday’s NSW election

^{By Frank Algra-Maschio}

Social media users are falsely claiming that a video being shared online is evidence of election fraud.

The video shows an official, purportedly at a polling centre, using an eraser on a piece of paper and then writing something in pen.

Several Facebook users have claimed that this official was filmed in the act of tampering with an election ballot, erasing a member of the public’s ballot filled out in pencil before filling in the ballot again himself in pen.

One user posted the video to Facebook with the caption: “MAKE SURE IF YOU ARE VOTING TODAY IN THE NSW ELECTION YOU USE A PEN🖊️ AN OFFICIAL WAS CAUGHT RUBBING OUT PENCIL VOTES & PUTTING DOWN HIS OWN CHOICE🗳️😡 ALTHOUGH THEY ARE SELECTED, NOT ELECTED, LETS NOT MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM”

Another user wrote, “Thanks to election rigging like this NSW is now a communist state!! Now do you see what is happening around you because if you still don’t then you are lost!!!”

Other users captioned the video with statements that included: “Blatant fraud going on in the NSW election” and “More election fraud caught on camera”.

But these claims are false. According to the NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC), the video in question shows an official completing internal administrative work, not tampering with a ballot.

A spokesperson for the NSWEC told RMIT FactLab via email that the claims made in connection with this video were incorrect. 

“This is disinformation. This is not a ballot paper. This official was filmed without permission working at an early voting centre completing internal administrative paperwork,” the spokesperson said.

The NSWEC Disinformation Register also listed and dispelled a similar claim that election officials had erased people’s votes and filled them in with graphite (pencils) themselves.

The entry in the register states, “Pens, not pencils, are supplied at elections run by the NSW Electoral Commission”.

“If you vote with a pencil, your vote is not erased. During voting, election officials do not have access to completed ballot papers. Ballot papers are stored in boxes that have seals, with seal numbers recorded and these are checked in the presence of scrutineers at the start of counting on election night,” the register states.

It is illegal to forge an election ballot or knowingly submit a forged ballot, punishable by a maximum two years imprisonment.

People employed by the NSWEC must satisfy the requirement of political neutrality.

The Electoral Act 2017 No 66 (NSW) also requires that the NSWEC and the NSW Election Commissioner undertake their functions without any bias against or in favour of any political parties or candidates.