Rex Patrick fails to include authorisation details on election corflutes

Lord mayoral candidate Rex Patrick has been contacted by the Electoral Commission after a complaint that his election corflutes omitted a key detail.

Lord mayoral candidate and transparency advocate Rex Patrick has been ordered to rectify some of his election material, after they failed to meet requirements under the Act.

Mr Patrick, whose campaign is based on council transparency, better governance and a long-term plan for the city, must correct about 20 corflutes on private property.

The Advertiser can confirm a complaint was made to the Electoral Commission of SA that the posters failed to include details of who had authorised the material.

Under the Local Government (Elections) Act, election material must contain the name and address of the person who authorises it and details of the printer.

Mr Patrick said the error was a “design oversight” and he was remedying the situation after being contacted by the commission on Tuesday.

Rex Patrick, the Independent Senator for SA, says he is “grateful” someone picked up his mistake. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Andrew Taylor

Mayoral candidate Rex Patrick has used unauthorised materials during the election campaign, such as this corflute.

“It was a mistake. I am grateful for someone pointing it out to the Electoral Commissioner,” he said.

“I am tracking the posters down and fixing the mistake. I have either placed stickers on them myself or provided stickers to the people who took them.

‘There are still a few which I have not located, I’m working to find them now.”

Corflutes, while banned from public roads, traffic signs and vegetation unless made out of other material such as cardboard, are permitted on private property.

Mr Patrick, a former independent senator, was not sanctioned for the error, but reminded by Electoral Commission of his responsibilities under the Act.

“We can confirm we received a complaint about unauthorised materials issued by the campaign,” the spokesperson said.

“We reminded Mr Patrick about his obligations related to authorisations under the Local Government Act.

“The campaign has elected to reissue the materials with the correct authorisation.”

Mr Patrick is running against incumbent Sandy Verschoor and former Labor politician and mayor Jane Lomax-Smith.

So far only 2024 of 30,410 eligible city residents, or 6.6 per cent, have cast their vote in the elections, according to the Electoral Commission website.

Voting closes on November 10.