Hay denies hand in voting scam
Sun Herald
Sunday March 27, 2011
THE Liberal Party has accused Labor's Noreen Hay of a "serious breach of electoral law" by producing hundreds of fake how-to-vote cards in Wollongong.A formal complaint has been lodged with electoral authorities following the discovery of "around 800 fake Liberal cards hidden among ALP campaign material" at the Farmborough Road booth, according to a statement issued by the party's campaign organisers.The cards were allegedly designed to dupe Liberal voters into giving their second preference to Labor.Labor denied any knowledge of the scam.Liberal candidate Michelle Blicavs said a campaign worker had noticed he was handing out "a form that had been tampered with, then he checked the box and found there were hundreds more like it".Ms Hay said she knew nothing about the claims and strenuously denied suggestions her team was involved."I'm as shocked as you are," she said. "I can categorically say that we wouldn't have been involved in this. I don't condone it, and I've said from the start that I don't run dirty campaigns."Ms Hay said she had spent an hour at the Farmborough Road booth after the complaint was made and that she had "chatted to and even eaten food with the Liberal staff there and none of them said anything to me about this, so it simply doesn't make sense".
© 2011 Sun Herald
