Acting SA electoral commissioner calls for council elections to be delayed

South Australia's acting electoral commissioner wants to delay the upcoming council elections until mid-2027 while she awaits recommendations into a review into the drama-plagued state and Voice to Parliament elections in March.

Local government elections were due to be held in November, but acting electoral commissioner Leah McLay said she believed there was "insufficient" time to implement any recommended changes before then.

Attorney-General and Special Minister of State Kyam Maher would have to approve the delay, which would impact all councils apart from the Roxby Downs council, which is run by an administrator. 

The state and the First Nations Voice to Parliament elections were held simultaneously and beset with problems, including at polling booths and during the count.

Issues included difficulty recruiting polling booth staff, computer login glitches on election day, confusion and alleged discrimination in the First Nations election voting process and uncounted votes found a month after the election.

Former Australian electoral commissioner Tom Rogers is reviewing both the state and First Nations Voice elections, while the Electoral Commission of South Australia is also doing its own review.

"I reiterate that I have not taken this action lightly, and I recognise that it will have an impact on councils, however in the circumstances that the commission finds itself, I'm not comfortable proceeding with the elections in November," the acting electoral commissioner said.

Ms McLay said she had informed the Local Government Association of South Australia and all 67 affected South Australian councils of her request.

'Frustrated' minister will look at delay

Mr Maher said he had an initial meeting with electoral commission officials last week during which they raised concerns about their capacity to run the council elections.

Then on Thursday he received formal advice about the issue, which was considered at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

"I've got to say we are frustrated and disappointed at how the election was conducted, how the scrutiny was conducted afterwards," Mr Maher said.

"There's no questions about the legitimacy of the results in the election, but it is exceptionally frustrating that despite offering every resource that was needed, we saw the election turn out in the way that it did."

He said a decision would be made in the "coming days" but any change to the election date would have to pass state parliament.

He said the independent review was due to be handed down in September or October.

"Given that there will be those recommendations made about how the state election was conducted, we will seriously consider the request that has been made," he said.

Delay request a 'late call' 

Local Government Association SA president Heather Holmes-Ross said the association was considering the implications the delay might have on councils.

"There are several practical considerations surrounding issues like timing, legislative provisions, budget processes and term length of elected officials," she said.

"This is a late call but integrity in democratic elections is fundamental, and in that context we respect the acting commissioner's request."

Voting in South Australian council elections is not compulsory.

The elections are conducted via a postal ballot, but only about a third of electors cast a vote.

The last time a South Australian council election was delayed was when the Adelaide City Council election was moved from 2006 to 2007 while a representation review was conducted.