Moreland City Council voter tampering probed by police
Hundreds of suspected fake votes mailed in from the recent Moreland City Council election are being probed by police after apparent attempt to interfere with its results.
Victoria
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Police are probing hundreds of suspected fake votes from Moreland City Council that were mailed in during an apparent attempt to interfere with the recent election.
A few hundred ballot packs in the North-West Ward were never received by voters, who contacted the Victorian Electoral Commission for replacement forms.
But the VEC later found postal votes under those residents’ names had already been returned.
Duplicate votes are not uncommon — voters sometimes request replacement packs before their forms have arrived and accidentally send both in.
But it’s understood the North-West Ward received up to five times the number of duplicate votes to other wards in the council.
Comparing signatures, the VEC found the replacement packs had been returned by the voter while the original forms had come from another person.
Despite the voter tampering investigation, the VEC must by law finalise the count and declare the winners of the Moreland City Council election.
However, it will call for the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to run an inquiry into the North-West Ward election as soon as the results are in.
Allegations had run rife through the election of dummy candidates, payments for voter material and branch stacking.
Cr Helen Davidson, who was recontesting, said reports had been made to police over tampering concerns during the election.
“There had been rumours of it and I had been aware it was going on,” she said.
“Ballot packs were being removed from letter boxes and fraudulent signatures were being put on those packs.”
Cr Davidson said it was the first time Moreland had a full postal vote and the scandal had “made a mockery of the democratic process”.
The matter was referred to Victoria Police’s Fraud and Extortion Squad and Local Government Inspectorate on October 31.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said “a number of ballots have been seized and will be forensically examined by police”.
“The matter is being treated with the highest priority and the investigation remains ongoing,” she said.
VEC Electoral Commissioner Warwick Gately said he was disappointed but believed the suspected tampering was confined to the North-West Ward.
‘This is a serious matter and carries significant penalties if the investigation verifies the attempt and identifies the person or people involved,’ he said.
Seventeen candidates nominated to fill the four councillor positions available in the North-West Ward.
Almost 50,000 voters were enrolled for the ward in the election, with four in five people returning a vote.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at www.crimestoppers.vic.com.au.
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