Why do we tolerate secrecy in the final count?

I think it is grossly unfair to candidates, political parties and the public that the Electoral Commission does not release a progressive count of the special votes. It means that candidates and parties have a vacuum of weeks where they get no indication of likely outcomes both run marginal seats and for List MPs close to getting in or staying in.

The electoral authorities used to release updated voting totals as they worked through special votes. I recall in 2002 analysing them every day so I could advise Katherine Rich and her family how it was looking for whether she would remain an MP. But at some stage (and as far as I know, there was no legislative change mandating this) the Electoral Commission has decided that after counting on the day votes, they then have a period of three weeks where it is an information black hole.

In many countries there would be outrage if you get provisional results on the day of the election and then just magically get told the final result three weeks later with nothing in between.

The new Government should change the law so that the Electoral Commission is required to publish at least daily updated vote totals in each electorate, until the final result.

The reality is probably 99% of votes have now already been counted and verified. We should be able to see the interim count in progress, rather than have the final results come as a total surprise to everyone on 3rd November.