Former Marion mayoral candidate, Jaison Midzi in court for alleged 2022 council election fraud
He ran for an Adelaide council in 2022 – but the Electoral Commission is now alleging he was responsible for faked votes.
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A former Marion mayoral candidate says he did not allegedly forge ballot votes in the 2022 – and will contest more than 20 charges against his name.
Jaison Midzi, 44, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday before Magistrate Oliver Koehn.
Casey Isaacs for Mr Midzi told the court his client was contesting all the charges against him and prosecution agreed the matter should proceed to pre-trial conference hearings.
The Seacombe Gardens man, who is not a sitting councillor, was arrested in July for allegedly providing ake ballot papers in the 2022 SA council elections for the Marion area.
The Electoral Commission of South Australia (ECSA) confirmed it was investigating suspected voting irregularities in the election, including 490 returned declaration envelopes suspected of not being completed by the eligible voter, a day before polling.
At the time, Electoral Commissioner Mick Sherry said the envelopes “appeared to have been submitted by the same individuals” and assured the ECSA had taken action to “ensure the integrity of the election”.
There is no current allegation the man’s alleged actions had any impact on the election outcome.
The alleged Marion Council voting scam was one of three being investigated by the ECSA during 2022, alongside West Torrens and Adelaide City councils.
Mr Midzi is facing 26 counts of dishonestly exercise a vote at an election or poll under the Local Governments Act 1999.
The maximum penalty for such an offence is a fine of up to $5000 or imprisonment for one year.
Mr Koehn adjourned the matter for negotiations to continue and remanded Mr Midzi on continuing bail to appear in court again next year.
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