A CANDIDATE in the Whittlesea council elections has received an official warning from the state local government watchdog.
The complaint against the unnamed candidate was one of six allegations investigated over election material and candidate conduct which were referred to the Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate.
An inspectorate spokeswoman said the authority issued one warning letter for “unauthorised election material” but found there was no breach of the Local Government Act in the other matters. She would not reveal the grounds of the complaints.
An officer’s report to council last week said the 2012 election returning officer received six complaints about election materials and the conduct of candidates. It stated no information was available about the basis of the complaints.
Councillors rejected the officers’ conclusion that the election was handled “satisfactorily” by the Victorian Electoral Commission.
Cr Sam Alessi said he must be on a “different planet” than the report’s author, because he said many people were “dissatisfied” with the VEC procedures in last October’s election.
He said VEC personnel appeared to have “limited” knowledge and “walked out” during the vote counting because they had finished their shifts after technical problems caused delays in the morning. Cr Ricky Kirkham claimed the VEC staff were temporary and needed more training.
A VEC spokeswoman Sue Lang said the organisation welcomed council feedback “and will take on board any suggestions for service improvement”.
