Mr Dropulich, a Stirling resident, lodged an appeal, along with Senator Ludlam, after Australian Electoral Officer for WA Peter Kramer rejected their initial request.
Electoral Commissioner Ed Killesteyn said last Thursday he had considered the appeals from Senator Ludlam and Mr Dropulich, and decided to call a recount of all formal WA above-the-line ballots and informal ballots.
‘I have concluded that the recount will be in the best interest of all candidates who contested the 2013 WA Senate election, and in the overall interest of the WA electorate’s confidence in the outcome,’ Mr Killesteyn said.
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READ NOWMr Dropulich, a civil engineer, said he would reserve any major decisions on his party’s future until after the results from the recount were confirmed.
The 42-year-old said although the long wait was frustrating, he understood why the processes were in place.
‘You’d rather it was done quickly and everyone knows the answer but the processes are there and everyone knows what they are, and they have to be done, so we’ll wait as long as it takes,’ he said.
Mr Killesteyn said the small margins in determining the outcome played a major role in his decision to call a recount.
‘Having considered candidates’ submissions and having further regard to the criticality of particular Senate candidate exclusion counts, and the small margins involved in determining Senators’ elect, I have decided that there should be a recount,’ he said.
The results of the recounted votes will be re-entered into the AEC computerised Senate system (Central Senate Scrutiny or CSS), and merged with the existing below-the-line votes.