We live in a society where correct behaviour should be bleedingly obvious, writes Mike Smithson, but the reality has a far darker side.

A dark cloud of dodginess should be sounding alarm bells after two recent and prominent elections in our fair city.

Chinese influence has been at the centre of both incidents and seems to be part of a murky pattern causing concern for law-abiding voters.

As InDaily reported, District Court Judge Michael Burnett ruled last week there had been “illegal practices” in the election result for a key Adelaide City Council ward.

It was brought on by the defeat of prominent political identity former Cr Alex Hyde, who was defeated by 24 votes by new councillor Jing Li – who, by the way, is not the Jing Lee formerly of the state Liberal Party.

The case has been dragged through the Court of Disputed Returns since the 2022 council election.

The judge may order a by-election as a result, but I certainly won’t presume his decision due next month.

The other smelly affair involves last year’s important University of Adelaide student union election, which was deemed rife with corrupt voting practices, so obviously out of order that they’d be a joke if it was a laughing matter.

As also reported by InDaily, the........

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