Chewed-up votes cleared in Tassie poll

Damage to 2000 ballot papers caused by a letter-opening machine did not effect the outcome of the Tasmanian election, a review has found.

More than 164 postal votes for the seat of Denison were ruled informal when the machine sliced a larger section of each envelope than was intended.

The others were repaired with sticky tape, an independent review by Dr Kevin Bonham has found.

The incident effected the fifth seat in the electorate of Denison, narrowly won by Madeleine Ogilvie over Labor colleague Julian Amos with a margin of 331 votes.

Tasmanian electorates each have five members.

"The incident had the potential for grave consequences although, ultimately, it could not have affected the final outcome of the Denison poll," a statement form the Tasmanian Electoral Commission said.

Among Dr Bonham's recommendations are that the letter-opening device be checked every 50 papers.

Electoral Commissioner Julian Type has apologised for the incident.