Voting is compulsory in Australia, and voters in House of Representatives elections are asked to fill in their ballot papers by placing the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc, next to the candidates's names to indicate preference.
Following a complaint by the Australian Electoral Commission, the Victorian Supreme Court issued an injunction on 8 February 1996 ordering Albert Langer to stop urging Australians to mark ballot papers in a way that would have given preference to smaller political parties at the expense of the two major parties.
On 14 February 1996, Albert Langer was sentenced to 10 weeks imprisonment for contempt of court after he had ignored the Victorian Supreme Court order to stop his campaign.
Albert Langer's imprisonment is ultimately the result of contradictory provisions in the Australian Electoral Act affecting his fundamental right of freedom of expression, Amnesty International said. We regard him as a prisoner of conscience.
Hmm, I think I've done Albert a disservice here. Bert, if you're out there, sorry mate!
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I still don't understand why manual, scrutinised counting of paper ballots at the polling place is impractical.
Oops, that's not what he went in for...
From the Amnesty report:
Voting is compulsory in Australia, and voters in House of Representatives elections are asked to fill in their ballot papers by placing the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc, next to the candidates's names to indicate preference.
Following a complaint by the Australian Electoral Commission, the Victorian Supreme Court issued an injunction on 8 February 1996 ordering Albert Langer to stop urging Australians to mark ballot papers in a way that would have given preference to smaller political parties at the expense of the two major parties.
On 14 February 1996, Albert Langer was sentenced to 10 weeks imprisonment for contempt of court after he had ignored the Victorian Supreme Court order to stop his campaign.
Albert Langer's imprisonment is ultimately the result of contradictory provisions in the Australian Electoral Act affecting his fundamental right of freedom of expression, Amnesty International said. We regard him as a prisoner of conscience.
Hmm, I think I've done Albert a disservice here. Bert, if you're out there, sorry mate!