South Australia Electoral Commissioner Mick Sherry Resigns Amid Election Review

South Australia's Electoral Commissioner Mick Sherry has resigned amid a review into the scandal-plagued state and Voice elections.

The March elections were beset with problems, including misplaced ballots, inadequate polling booth staff and computer glitches.

First Nations voters also alleged they experienced discrimination at polling booths.

Mr Sherry had been on personal leave since the elections.

Attorney-General and Special Minister of State Kyam Maher said Mr Sherry had made the choice to step down himself and would not comment on the specific reasons around his decision.

"We were informed about it yesterday that he had tendered his resignation to the Governor, effective late July," Mr Maher said.

Former Australian electoral commissioner Tom Rogers had previously been appointed to lead an independent review of the management and oversight of the March polls.

The Electoral Commission of South Australia (ECSA) is also conducting its own review.

Councils face election delays

Mr Sherry's resignation comes as the state government plans to introduce legislation to delay local council elections until next year, following a request by the acting SA Electoral Commissioner Leah McLay.

She asked for a delay as she believed there would be "insufficient" time to implement any recommended changes in time for the local elections which were set to be held in November.

Mr Maher said the state government would introduce legislation today to delay those elections until April 2027, affecting 67 councils.

"This is not something we do very lightly, we would prefer not to be in the position that we find ourselves in," he said.

"But having received that advice from the acting Electoral Commissioner [Leah McLay] that there could be significant problems plaguing local government elections, we had a responsibility as a government to consider that."

Mr Maher said he was confident a delay would "reduce the chance of problems occurring".

"The very clear advice from [ECSA] has been some of the same systems and processes that plagued the state election may not be rectified by November for the local government election," he said.

"Also, that they would have severe difficulty finding that workforce, about 1,000 casual people to stand up ... before the report by the independent reviewer is handed down."

He added that if the parliament decided against passing the legislation, elections would "continue as they are currently planned" for November.

In a statement, Ms McLay thanked the state government for considering her request and welcomed the "proposed legislative change before parliament".

"The [Electoral] Commission's focus is on continuing to prepare for the elections and will deliver them in April, pending the passage of the legislation," she said.