THE ACT Electoral Commission has published the objections to the proposed electoral boundaries first floated at the end of march.

The nine objections range from attention seeking to very minor quibbles, with the bulk of the debate being about the names.

The redistribution is getting us ready for the October 2016 election with the ACT now being divided into 5 electorates each returning 5 Members to the Legislative Assembly (up from 17 members).

“The objections will now be considered by the Augmented Electoral Commission at a meeting to be held on 5 May 2015,” Electoral Commissioner Phillip Green said.

“The Augmented Electoral Commission has the power to either propose a new set of electorate boundaries and/or names, or to uphold the boundaries and electorate names proposed by the Redistribution Committee. Before it makes a decision, the Augmented Electoral Commission may also decide to hold a public hearing into the objections,” Mr Green said.

“The Redistribution Committee consisted of the Electoral Commissioner, Mr Phillip Green; the ACT Planning and Land Authority, Ms Dorte Ekelund; the ACT Surveyor-General, Mr Jeffrey Brown; and the ACT Regional Director, ACT Regional Office, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Ms Cassandra Gligora.

“These committee members will now be joined by the Chairperson of the ACT Electoral Commission, Mr Roger Beale AO, and the other member of the Commission, Ms Dawn Casey, to form the Augmented ACT Electoral Commission.”