Queensland election ballot boxes unsealed by mistake but ECQ says no ballots tampered with

The Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) has admitted five ballot boxes have been unsealed accidentally, but says no votes had been tampered with.

ECQ commissioner Pat Vidgen said it was a case of “human error”, with thousands of temporary staff hired to cope with the demand in early voting this election.

“There is a lot of newness in the system, and there is a huge volume of voters,” he said.

“We have more early voting centres, 200 across Queensland, which needed more staff and while a lot of…