By Laura Michell
Alleged voting irregularities in Whittlesea’s Lalor Ward have been referred to police and the Local Government Inspectorate (LGI) after the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) detected a high number of multiple ballot papers appearing to be from the same voters.
The irregularities will also be referred to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for a review of the election result.
Electoral Commissioner Sven Bluemmel said 128 ballots in Lalor ward were detected as suspicious.
He said the matter was referred to the LGI for investigation of electoral offences under the Local Government Act on October 30 and police on November 1. The VEC will apply to VCAT for the review today.
In a statement, the VEC said it was required by law to carefully examine the voter declarations on each multiple return.
“A number of multiple returns were set aside as rejected after comparison with the declarations from replacement ballot paper envelopes. This highlighted a pattern of irregularities,” the statement said.
Mr Bluemmel said he could not speculate what had happened, or who was behind the suspected vote tampering, but said it “indicates nefarious intent rather than being accidental”.
The VEC is unable to determine which candidate the suspicious votes were directed to as the ballot is secret.
“Interfering with an election is a serious matter with significant penalties,” Mr Bluemmel said.
“Electoral integrity is paramount, and it must be upheld to maintain the community’s trust in their elections.”
Labor candidate and former Whittlesea councillor Stevan Kozmevski was elected in Lalor ward with 4953 first preference votes, ahead of independent Ellen McNaught (4002 votes) and community independent Nicholas Hajichristou (3346). After preferences, Cr Kozmevski had 6170 votes to Ms McNaught’s 6131.
As reported by Star Weekly, the seat was the subject of a recount, which confirmed Cr Kozmevski as the winner.
Mr Bluemmel said Cr Kozmevski would continue to serve as a Whittlesea councillor.
Ms McNaught described the discovery of potential vote tampering as “deeply concerning”.
“Voters deserve to have their voice heard fairly and accurately,” she said.
“The closeness of this result, with just 39 votes between us, shows that every vote truly matters in local democracy.”
Mr Kozmevski and Mr Hajichristou were contacted for comment.
Mr Bluemmel said the matter “appears to be similar (to what) may have happened” in the north-west ward of Moreland council’s 2020 election, now known as Merri-bek council.
In June, former councillor Milad El-Halabi was fined $20,000 and handed an 18-month community work order after admitting to one charge of vote tampering.
The issue took more than two years to resolve.
Whittlesea councillor Aidan McLindon called for the Lalor Ward investigation to be completed “sooner rather than late”.
“I think a six-month timeframe would be fair for everyone involved,” he said.
Mr McLindon said he hoped the issue was isolated, adding that he contacted the VEC about concerns for the potential for the “exploitation” of votes some months ago.
Chief municipal inspector Michael Stefanovic said the LGI is working closely with the VEC to establish the nature and extent of these matters and will liaise with Victoria Police as to the appropriate level of investigative response.
“On initial review, the matters that have been referred to the LGI, concern potential offences of tampering or interfering with ballot papers that are two of the more serious offences under the Local Government Act 2020 – each carrying a substantial fine or imprisonment for up to five years,” he said.
