Influencer’s Indigenous Voice to Parliament vote post backfires because of one small detail

A young influencer’s bid to back the proposed Indigenous Voice in Parliament may have failed because of one small detail.

Sydney woman Claudia Bursill is among the millions of Aussies who have already voted ahead of Saturday’s referendum.

The marketing and social media manager shared a photo of her Yes vote on the ballot paper at an early voting booth in Bondi Junction on it. Pop culture meme account Miss Double Bay, which has almost 58,000 followers on Instagram.

She was soon horrified to learn from one of her followers, who advised that her vote could be considered invalid after she made a simple mistake.

Claudia Bursill, aka Miss Double Bay, was left red-faced after sharing her Voice vote with almost 58,000 followers

Mrs Bursill had added an exclamation point after the word Yes in the required box.

‘Guys, I think I’m up!’ she wrote in a follow-up post on Instagram.

‘Don’t put an exclamation point or anything else in place of ‘yes’ on your paper.’

However, others quickly assured him that the vote could still be counted.

‘No, it’s still valid! Don’t worry”, they wrote in a message that Bursill also distributed.

“But yes, it’s best to avoid ticking boxes other than YES.”

The Australian Electoral Commission states that voters must clearly write ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in English in response to the referendum question.

Her vote may be considered invalid as she added an exclamation point to the ballot

Jumps or crosses are discouraged along with other symbols that may leave “the formality of your vote open to interpretation or challenge.”

The AEC confirmed the commissioner’s endorsement of a Yes vote to Daily Mail Australia, adding that the use of a cross could be unclear as to what a voter intended.

“There is the ability to count a vote if the intent is clear – that’s what the legislation requires,” a spokesman said.

“The thing about a cross is that in many forms people in Australian use in everyday life, and in some other languages, it represents a ‘sign’ that indicates ‘yes’.

‘I therefore leave it open to interpretation or challenge by a controller.

‘A ‘mark’ would also be open to interpretation and may not count depending on how clear that mark is on the ballot.’

They confirmed that they can also accept a Y or N as a Yes or No vote, but warned that it could also count as informal if the handwriting is unclear.

Some followers assured Ms Bursill that her vote could still be counted