{{Short description|South Australian election commission}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2018}} {{Infobox Government agency | agency_name = Electoral Commission SA | logo = File:Electoral_Commission_of_South_Australia_LOGO.svg | logo_width = | logo_caption = Electoral Commission of South Australia LOGO | formed = 2009 | preceding1 = State Electoral Office (1993-2009) | preceding2 = State Electoral Department (1907-1993) | jurisdiction = Government of South Australia | headquarters = Level 6, 60 Light Square, Adelaide | employees = 30 (2023)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment |title=Workplace Information Report 2022-2023 |url=https://www.publicsector.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/955304/OCPSE-WIR2023.pdf |website=Public Sector SA |publisher=South Australian Government |access-date=4 March 2024}}</ref> | budget = $16.5 million<ref>{{cite web |last1=Electoral Commission of South Australia |title=2022-23 Annual Report |url=https://ecsa.sa.gov.au/annual-reports-and-other-corporate-publications |website=Electoral Commission: South Australia |publisher=Electoral Commissioner of South Australia |access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref> | minister1_name = Kyam Maher | minister1_pfo = Attorney General of South Australia, Minister for Industrial Relations and the Public Sector | chief1_name = Mick Sherry | chief1_position = Electoral Commissioner | website = {{URL|ecsa.sa.gov.au|Electoral Commission of South Australia}} }}
The '''Electoral Commission SA''' is an independent office which forms part of the Government of South Australia, and which conducts parliamentary state elections every four years.
== History == In 1907 the then '''State Electoral Department''' was established to administer all South Australian parliamentary elections. It was renamed to '''State Electoral Office''' in 1993, and to Electoral Commission SA in 2009.<ref>[https://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/about-ecsa About ECSA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509012450/https://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/about-ecsa |date=9 May 2018 }}, Electoral Commission of SA</ref> Prior to this, elections in South Australia were administered by a "Returning Officer for the Province", an office which had been held by William Boothby from his appointment in 1854 until his death in 1903.<ref>{{cite Australasia|Boothby, William Robinson}}</ref> George Hamilton Ayliffe, a long standing public servant, filled the role in the 1905 and 1906 elections and Charles Llandaff Mathews was the first state returning officer appointed under the State Electoral Department.
More than 120 parliamentary elections, by-elections and referendums have been conducted by this Office. The State Electoral Commissioner was first empowered to conduct miscellaneous elections in 1980, and later in 1990 the Attorney-General gave approval for the Commissioner to be appointed returning officer for local government elections when requested. In 1999 the Electoral Commissioner was appointed returning officer for all local government elections.
The Commission was the first electoral administration in the world to use computer technology to produce an electoral roll, the first prototype roll scanner, and the development and use of cardboard ballot boxes and voting compartments.{{Citation needed|date=May 2018}}
Since 2017, the electoral commissioner has been Mick Sherry.<ref>[https://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/about-ecsa/the-electoral-commissioner The Electoral Commissioner] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508185718/https://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/about-ecsa/the-electoral-commissioner |date=8 May 2018 }}, Electoral Commission of SA</ref> For the previous decade, the electoral commissioner was Kay Mousley,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-12/sa-electoral-commissioner-resigns-after-a-decade/6464788|title=SA Electoral Commissioner announces her resignation after a decade in the role|work=ABC News |date=12 May 2015|access-date=28 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529223035/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-12/sa-electoral-commissioner-resigns-after-a-decade/6464788|archive-date=29 May 2015|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> who was the first woman in the role.<ref>''Adelaide Advertiser'' "First woman at electoral helm", 7 July 2005 page 13 retrieved through Ebbsco's Australia and New Zealand Reference Database 11 December 2006</ref>
==Redistributions==
Redistributions are handled by the South Australian Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission, an independent commission established under the state constitution. The electoral commissioner is a member of this commission.
==See also== {{Portal|South Australia}} *Elections in Australia
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Electoral commissions in Australia}}
South Australia Category:Elections in South Australia Category:Government agencies of South Australia