State election: Liberal candidate Sam Ozturk already MP, according to letter

A STATE Liberal candidate, Sam Ozturk, has jumped the gun, sending residents a letter already listing him as an MP.

Yan Yean state Liberal candidate Sam Ozturk jumps the gun by adding MP in letters sent to residents.

YAN Yean state election Liberal candidate Sam Ozturk has jumped the gun this week by sending residents a letter already listing him as an MP.

The correspondence, with a letterhead reading Sam Ozturk MP, has made the rounds on social media.

Yan Yean state Labor MP Danielle Green took to Facebook and said “Aside from being untrue, it’s plain bad manners to pre-empt the decision of the community who will cast their votes on November 29’’.

Ms Green said she was proud to be Yan Yean’s MP.

“It is of great concern that my opponent in the upcoming election has acted to mislead people in the electorate,’’ Ms Green said.

“I find it hard to believe this action is some kind of error and it has been referred to the Victorian Electoral Commission to investigate.

“Lets hope this is not the beginning of the sorts of dirty tricks that the people of Yan Yean will not stand for.”

Victorian Electoral Commission communications manager Sue Lang said she could not comment due to privacy laws.

Liberal party spokesman Andrew Cox said an error was made during the printing process that was “completely inadvertent”.

The Whittlesea Leader asked the Liberal party whether the letterheads came from the Liberal party head office or Mr Ozturk’s own campaign office, but the question went unanswered.

“This is a simple case of human error and was in no way intended to mislead readers,’’ Mr Cox said.

“The content of the letter demonstrates Sam Ozturk’s commitment to standing up for Yan Yean families.”

The Liberal party did not say how many letters with the wrong letterhead had been delivered or if an apology would be sent to residents.