The Australian Electoral Commission has launched its first prosecution of a person for breaching electoral laws that prohibit misleading or deceiving about the act of casting a vote.
Cheng Fan was convicted for a number of offences relating to a series of spam emails circulated during the 2020 Eden-Monaro by-election.
The 34-year-old from the Sydney suburb of Blacktown was sentenced in Penrith District Court to an aggregate 21 months and released with conditions including to be of good behaviour for three years.
He pleaded guilty to 12 charges, which included using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence; dealing in identification information; possession of identification information; and misleading or deceptive publications.
In June 2020, the Australian Federal Police launched Operation BALAH after receiving a report about a mass disinformation campaign leading up the Eden-Monaro by-election.
The report related to offensive and harassing emails, from apparent legitimate sources, being sent from an unidentified user to members of the public and various organisations.
Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers: "Those who seek to undermine the integrity of Australia’s electoral system will be brought to account.
“A result like this draws a line in the sand as it provides precedent for any similar misbehaviour in the future.”
Fan’s sentence included a penalty for breaching section 329 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 by distributing matter that the court considered was likely to mislead or deceive an elector in the relation to the casting of a vote.
“This result is also a credit to the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce, to which the AEC referred this matter in 2020,” Rogers said.
“The work of the Taskforce is one more reason Australians can be confident in the integrity of our elections.”
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