A Whittlesea councillor has called for those responsible for a vote tampering scheme in the Lalor Ward to be prosecuted, as the candidates for the ward’s by-election are revealed.
Voters in Lalor Ward will once again be asked to elect a councillor after the October 2024 election result for their ward was voided by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in May.
The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) referred the election result to VCAT as part of an investigation into suspected vote tampering in the ward.
The VEC also asked police and the Local Government Inspectorate (LGI) to investigate.
Labor candidate and former Whittlesea councillor Stevan Kozmevski was elected with 4953 first preference votes, ahead of independent Ellen McNaught (4003 votes) and community independent Nicholas Hajichristou (3344). After preferences, Mr Kozmevski had 6170 votes to Ms McNaught’s 6131.
Mr Kozmevski served on council until VCAT’s May 8 decision to void the election result.
VCAT found the fraudulent votes favoured Mr Hajichristou. There was no suggestion Mr Hajichristou was responsible for, or involved in, the fraud, the VEC submitted.
In voiding the election result and triggering a by-election, VCAT vice president, Judge Caitlin English, said she was satisfied that a majority of voters might have been prevented from electing the candidate they preferred as a result of the vote tampering.
In a video shared to social media on Monday, June 16, Cr Lawrie Cox said the by-election would cost Whittlesea ratepayers $200,000 and called for charges to be laid against those responsible for the vote tampering.
“The people involved should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Cr Cox said.
“They have cost significantly a by-election process to the tune of $200,000.
“That is money that could be far better spent on basic interests of ratepayers and residents of the Lalor Ward. It could have been contributions to local community groups, it could have been better roads, it could have been funding our better dumping campaign, or providing public toilets in the reserves.
“The residents have been disadvantaged by … the actions of a selfish few.”
Victoria Police told Star Weekly the vote tampering had been referred to the LGI, with the state government confirming the inspectorate is responsible for investigating and prosecuting breaches and offences under the Local Government Act.
Cr Cox also used the video to urge voters to re-elect Mr Kozmevski.
“Please consider your vote carefully to ensure we get proper, stable representation in the Lalor Ward by re-electing Stevan Kozmevski,” he said.
Cr Cox’s endorsement of Mr Kozmevski coincided with nominations for the by-election being submitted to the VEC.
As of Friday, June 20 six candidates had nominated.
They were Mr Kozmevski, Ms McNaught, Mary Krassos, Samjhana Uprety, William Sharp and Michael Labrador.
Mr Kozmevski said he was re-contesting the election “to continue serving our community with honesty and integrity”, adding the people responsible for the by-election should be “ashamed”.
Ms McNaught said she had nominated once again because the last six months in council had been “interesting to say the least”.
“It really just goes to show it is important who we decide represents us,” she said.
Mr Sharp said he felt there was perception council was not functioning well and that his experience as a worker advocate in the building industry could help solve some of the issues plaguing council.
Ms Uprety said she was passionate about ensuring every member of the community had a voice and would use her experience as a community leader to build a stronger, more inclusive Whittlesea.
Mr Labrador said he nominated because he believed changes needed to be made in Lalor.
“After seeing the election that I voted in be undermined due to fraud, I knew that if there was to be change in Lalor and in our wider community, I had to be the change I wanted to see,” he said.
Ms Krassos could not be contacted.
Postal ballots for the by-election will be mailed to voters from Monday, July 14 and voting will close at 6pm on Friday, August 1.
