[EL] disqualified losing candidates upsetting election?

[Graeme Orr]

My home state Queensland had an election last weekend.   Hung parliament.

In a key, very tight seat, a minor party candidate was nominated.  He
scored 3%.   Turns out he was a bankrupt: so not qualified to be nominated
or elected.

My urgent request is for any comparative precedent, especially UK or US.

*Is there precedent for an election contest/petition upsetting a close
result, on the ground that the voters for the unqualified candidate might
have plumped for another candidate on the ballot, rendering the result
uncertain?*

It’s likely to go to court next month given the fate of the potential
incoming Labor government hangs on it.  So I’m fielding calls from media,
officials and wannabe lawyers!       Nb my state has compulsory voting; and
OPV or 'optional preferential voting' (rank as many candidates as you
like).   There is Australian precedent that in first-past-the-post races,
the presence of an unqualified losing candidate can lead to a new
election.   But where full preferences are required, the precedent is that
they cannot.    OPV lies somewhere inbetween.   (ps I'm aware of the old UK
rule about 'votes thrown away', but that relates to a plurality winner.)

thanks
Graeme Orr
g.orr at law.uq.edu.au
Professor, Law, University of Queensland, Australia
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