'This is nuts': Frantic emails reveal SA Electoral Commission's election day chaos

The South Australian Electoral Commission (ECSA) was scrambling to find polling booth managers just hours before the March 21 state election deadline. A batch of frantic emails revealed that senior staff were still struggling to staff polling booths the day before the election, with one official reportedly in tears at 4am due to disorganisation.

An independent review of ECSA's handling of the 2026 election, which faced issues like technical glitches, long queues, missing ballots, payment delays, and Aboriginal voters being mistakenly turned away, is due to be released before the end of the year. Former Australian electoral commissioner Tom Rogers, who leads the review, described the documents provided by the ABC via Freedom of Information (FOI) as "distressing reading" and said he would be making "full set of findings and recommendations about those issues."

One returning officer in the western suburbs of Adelaide emailed senior ECSA officials on the Thursday night before the election, pleading for additional polling booth managers (PBMs). He had already lost one PBM and had only half of his required spots allocated. The returning officer warned that one polling booth could be closed and that venues had not been contacted.

Just hours before the election, another returning officer reported that another polling worker had pulled out, leaving one booth without a PBM and DPBM. A senior official suggested an experienced PBM who was willing to step in, but the returning officer pointed out that she had a birthday that day and would need to finish at 6.30pm.

The ABC's FOI request covered three electorates known to have had issues on polling day: Lee, Morphett, and Stuart. All three returning officers faced similar problems, from staff shortages to technical difficulties. In one instance, a returning officer in Stuart received an identical staffing list email nearly 8pm on the night before the election, warning that booths would not be closed unless authorised by the Commissioner.