s273AB Senate count software assurance

The AEC requires the independent assurance of the EasyCount – Senate software used by the AEC to compute the distribution of preferences for Senate elections, in line with the below legislation (s273AB of the Electoral Act), as amended in 2021. ‘The Electoral Commissioner must arrange for an independent and appropriately qualified person or body (the assessor) to conduct an assessment of whether the software (the counting software) to be used by a computer to scrutinise the votes in a Senate election for a particular State or Territory in compliance with section 273A distributes preferences and elects candidates in accordance with the requirements of this Act…’ During a Senate federal election, the Australian public expresses their preferences on Senate candidates on roughly 15 million Ballot papers. The AEC, following an algorithm described in the Electoral Act, determines the successful Senate candidates based on these preferences. This distribution of preferences algorithm is complex, and the accuracy of the results is of national importance. The AEC may require additional services (including assessment of legislative change, updating of testing data/scripts, and/or reassessment of EasyCount - Senate). The additional asessment of legislation or EasyCount - Senate will be required to be delivered prior to an election, potentially in short time frames. The AEC cannot give clear notice of when Electoral Events will be held, or when legislation change will occur. Completion of the attached Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) Information Questionnaire and a completed risk assessment are required. Buyer contact: Senate.tender@aec.gov.au