Battle for Bradfield hits High Court, to be decided by 150 disputed ballot papers

Around 150 disputed ballot papers will be the focus of a trial to decide if Liberal challenger Gisele Kapterian can overturn an election result against her Teal independent challenger.

Nicolette Boele was awarded the seat of Bradfield in north Sydney by 26 votes, or 50.01 per cent of the two candidate preferred, at May’s federal election.

Ms Kapterian’s legal challenge in the Court of Disputed Returns began on Friday, with Chief Justice Stephen Gageler referring the trial to the Federal Court in NSW.

“The trial will primarily be concerned with the formality of in excess of 150 disputed ballot papers,” he said.

The ballot papers will now be re-examined to ensure all numbers were legible.

While Ms Kapterian is challenging the Australian Electoral Commission’s decision to award Ms Boele the seat, Ms Boele will remain the representative for Bradfield.

Ms Boele has been sworn into parliament, and delivered her maiden speech in the House of Representatives.

Ahead of the Friday’s hearing she vowed to continue to serve her electorate.

“This is the next step in Australia’s strong and trusted democratic process,” she said.

“I have every confidence in the court, the AEC, and the integrity of their work.

“While the court challenge proceeds, I’m focused on delivering the genuine representation Bradfield voted for.”

She has also sought donations from her community to cover the legal costs of the court case, while vowing to either return the money or donate the funds to a nominated cause if the Liberal Party is ordered to pay her costs.

The battle for Bradfield comes after a whirlwind count, which initially awarded the electorate in Ms Kapterian’s favour on a margin of eight votes.

However the ultra-slim margin, under 100 votes, triggered an automatic recount, which declared Ms Boele the winner.

The result was then challenged by Ms Kapterian about 10 weeks following the election on July 15, largely on the premise of the conflicting counts.

The Liberal hopeful said her court bid was not about challenging the “integrity of our electoral system” but was done to ensure “the intentions of the voters of Bradfield are accurately reflected in the final count”.

Ms Kapterian’s legal team has not asked for the election result to be made void, which would trigger a by-election.

“Pursuing this final step will provide collective confidence that the final result reflects the true wishes of the voters in Bradfield and remove any remaining doubt created by the two conflicting counts,” she said previously.

“Every vote counts”.

This year’s May 3 election was the first time the blue-ribbon electorate has been held by a non-Liberal MP.

It was previously held by former minister Paul Fletcher who retired ahead of the 2025 poll.