From NT News 22/8/25
Candidates can no longer be fined for “reasonably canvassing” during early voting, following a legal stoush with the City of Darwin and the Northern Territory Electoral Commission.
The breakthrough came during a Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday, after legal action was launched by lord mayoral hopeful Leah Potter.
It was backed by several other candidates – including Julie Fraser, Andrew Arthur, Amye Un, Robin Lawrence, Vicki Bonson, Lenny, Mark Barnes and Nick O’Loughlin – who provided evidence for the case, according to letters seen by the NT News.
While Chief Justice Michael Grant stopped short of issuing a formal ruling, the City of Darwin gave an undertaking to the court that it would not issue further infringement notices to candidates who are “reasonably” canvassing or interacting with voters.
It also agreed to maintain a table for candidate materials at early voting centres for Thursday and Friday.
But what constituted “reasonable” canvassing was not immediately clear, and the City of Darwin declined to answer questions from the NT News, citing the matter’s ongoing status before the court.
Phil Scott, Leah Potter and Julie Fraser outside the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory on August 20, 2025. Picture: Facebook
The NT News understands that the NTEC does not have a definitive definition of reasonable conduct, with scenarios assessed on a “case-by-case” basis.
The City of Darwin declined to clarify whether three infringement notices issued to Ms Fraser were considered reasonable or unreasonable.
Ms Fraser was issued two infringement notices on August 12 and a third on August 14, according to letters seen by the NT News.
In a statement issued Thursday morning, City of Darwin said: “The two early voting centres for the 2025 Local Government elections are both active community and public spaces. In choosing to host early voting at these locations, Council were and remain mindful of the ability for our Library and Entertainment Centre patrons to easily access these community facilities with minimal disruption.”
Candidates have described the decision as a “win for democracy” — but with just two days of early voting left and little clarity around what behaviour crosses the line, the situation remains murky.
“Just brochures on a bench isn’t good enough for democracy. Voters deserve the chance to meet candidates, ask questions, and get advice if they want to,” Mr Fraser said on Facebook.
Ms Potter celebrated the result on Facebook Live and called it “the first step to fairer elections”, even though this undertaking is limited only to the next three days.
Even then, the result is far from what the group originally sought.
According to a copy of the injunction, seen by the NT News, the candidates sought three orders.
The first requested “all candidates, including independents, be allowed to canvass freely during the election campaign”, while the second called for “all candidate ‘how to vote’ materials be handled exclusively by NTEC officials, not City of Darwin staff.”
Both of these orders were shut down by Justice Grant, who said the City of Darwin “did not have an obligation to set up a table”, and that he would not give candidates “very broad” powers to “do whatever they want”.
The third request was that the City of Darwin “immediately cease using By-Law 95 (Busking and other activities on public land) to issue infringement notices or prevent candidates from interacting with voters” during early voting.
The City of Darwin previously explained the reason behind the policy was to keep public venues open and operating smoothly for patrons, with these provisions removed on Election Day.