Postal vote form deceptive

Both my wife and I were extremely alarmed this week when we received a postal vote application which appears to have been sent to all of the registered voters in Gosford by the NSW Labor Party.

There is absolutely no reference or identification what-so-ever on the form that it has been supplied by the Australian Labor Party.

It clearly states that it has been supplied by Marie Andrews, the Member for Gosford.

While Marie may well be the current member, she has announced that she is not recontesting the seat at the March 26 election.

The application does not mention that Katie Smith is actually the Labor candidate for Gosford at the upcoming election.

My concern is that older or less informed voters may believe that Marie is actually standing and request an application in the belief that they are supporting her and not the true candidate contesting the seat at the upcoming election.

When we receive such applications from other candidates, these are normally accompanied by a letter stating who it is from and the party they are representing.

While I am sure that the Australia Labor Party have been careful to not commit electoral fraud, this must be a very fine line.

I believe that this deceptive behaviour is not in the spirit of a truly democratic electoral system.

Email, 25 Feb 2011 Adam Crouch, Umina