The Electoral Commission of South Australia (ECSA) has issued an apology to temporary election staff for delays in processing their final payments following the state election held on March 19, 2026. The commission acknowledged the issue in an email to affected workers, stating it was working to resolve the outstanding payments as a priority.
ECSA confirmed that the delays impacted a portion of the approximately 7,000 temporary staff employed for the election. The commission attributed the problem to a high volume of payment claims requiring manual verification, which has taken longer than anticipated to process through its systems.
In a statement, Electoral Commissioner Mick Sherry expressed regret for the inconvenience and assured staff that resolving the payments was the commission's immediate focus. He stated that ECSA is implementing additional resources to expedite the finalisation of all outstanding amounts. The commission has advised any staff member with urgent concerns to contact its payroll team directly.
The payment issue follows other logistical challenges reported during the election, including some polling places opening late. The state's Electoral Act mandates that election officials must be paid within a prescribed period after the election, typically within a few weeks.
