Brown takes blame for Tasmanian election ad FORMER Greens leader Bob Brown is taking the blame for a Tasmanian state election advertisement that could be illegal. Senator Brown says a state law that bans political advertising on polling day may have inadvertently been broken when Tasmanian upper house candidate Penelope Ann placed an advertisement in a local newspaper on Saturday. The retiring senator says he donated $300 for the advert and advised Ms Ann to run it on Saturday, when voters in the divisions of Hobart and Western Tiers went to the polls. "I called Penelope and told her I'd make the donation and suggested she place the advertisement on Saturday, which is permissible under the Federal Electoral Act but, we now see, not the state law," Senator Brown said in a statement. The mistake was inadvertent, the statement continued, with Senator Brown adding: "Blame me, not Penelope." The Tasmanian Electoral Commission is seeking legal advice and could refer the matter to the director of public prosecutions. Ms Ann could face a maximum penalty of a $13,000 fine or three months in jail. She told local media it was an "inadvertent oversight." The Greens candidate came second in Hobart with 37.47 per cent of the vote after preferences, behind independent former lord mayor Rob Valentine (62.53), when results were finalised on Monday. Labor, which previously held the seat, was beaten into third place and now has just one vote in the 15-seat upper house. The Liberal Party also has one seat, with the remaining 13 now independents. In Western Tiers, a division in the state's north, independent incumbent Greg Hall easily saw off challenger John Hawkins with 73.34 per cent of the vote.