South Granville records high informal votes at Cumberland council elections

COULD South Granville be the most politically disengaged ward in NSW? Early numbers suggest the area has a high number of informal votes.

ARE the people of Cumberland the most apathetic when it comes to politics? The recent council elections seems to suggest so, with South Granville topping the list of areas with the most informal votes in the state, with counting still underway.

While the numbers are due to change, as of writing South Granville is seeing 5056 people opt for the “donkey” option during Saturdays election, which equals 27.81 per cent of voters possibly choosing to throw away their vote.

South Granville candidate Hicham Zraika questioned the high levels of informal votes, suggesting some votes may have been labelled informal when they should not have been.

“I understand if its an empty paper it’s an informal vote. But what I’m hearing from my scrutineers is that votes are being put into the informal/other pile when they are for an independent because the independent doesn’t have a Liberal or Labor label.”

Former councillor Hicham Zraika tells candidates to wait before celebrating with informal and other votes still being counted in the Cumberland election. Picture: Stephen Cooper

Mr Zraika, former Auburn mayor and Labor Party member, said his “grassroots” campaign was based on engaging the public, getting “everybody involved in the political process”.

“I think it’s insane that so many of the people in the area would vote this way. I think what the case is these votes are being considered invalid even though they show a clear political engagement ... some people may be seeing their real votes thrown away.”

The NSW Electoral Commission state that the numbers Mr Zraika is quoting will not be the final count, with the officials often placing votes in the “other” pile that need a closer look or would benefit from manual input.

“It’s too early to talk about informal vote figures,” a spokesman for the NSW electoral commission said.

“There are a range of reasons that a vote would be put in the informal or other pile ... Many of these votes will be found to be formal and will be entered into the count.”

People line up to vote during pre-polling in Parramatta.

The spokesman said that the final number of informal votes and therefore the informality rate will only be known once the final results are published later this week.

Mr Zraika said the count of informal votes at the Riverwood count centre may help to clear up the vote discrepancy, which he hopes alters the outcome even further.

“I’d say to the other candidates ‘hold on’. I’m not rolling over, and they should wait until the votes are looked at clearly before they decide anything.”

Mr Zraika’s Group D have since received 17.97 per cent of the South Granville ward votes. The Labor Party are currently leading the ward with 29.28 per cent of the votes, followed by Paul Garrard’s Our Local Community on 25.63 per cent and the Liberal Party on 22.47 per cent.

Cumberland has three wards in the state’s top 10 informal voting suburbs, with 4306 informal votes in Granville and 2940 in Wentworthville.

Cumberland Council voters come out to vote for the Cumberland Council election at Pendle Hill Guides Hall, Greystanes. AAP Picture: Robert Pozo

Highest informal votes

South Granville, 27.81%

Bankstown 25.3%

Roselands 25.03%

Bass Hill 24.26%

Granville 23.16%

Port Botany 21.17%

Rockdale 20.91%

Bexley 18.91%

Wentworthville 18.67%

Burwood 18.54%