Victoria Police and VCAT investigating two local councils amid suspicions of voter fraud

Victoria Police and VCAT are investigating two local council elections amid suspicions of voter fraud after multiple ballots appearing to be from the same voter were picked up.

Two local council elections have been referred to Victoria Police and VCAT amid suspicions of voter fraud.

Two local council elections have been referred to Victoria Police and VCAT amid suspicions of voter fraud.

Multiple ballots appearing to be from the same voter were picked up in the returns of Lalor Ward in Whittlesea and Baird Ward in Knox by the Victorian Electoral Commission.

“As a result of our examination, we discovered 128 suspicious returns for the Lalor Ward election and 61 suspicious returns for the Baird Ward election,” Electoral Commissioner Sven Bluemmel said.

“I cannot say precisely how many fraudulent completed votes would have progressed to counting.

“However, it is clear that the results of the elections could have been impacted.”

Electoral Commissioner Sven Bluemmel says it is ‘clear’ the results of the elections could have been impacted by the fraudulent votes.

Peter Lockwood, a former Labor councillor, beat incumbent Yvonne Allred by 377 votes in Baird.

He ran as an independent in his bid to become a councillor this year but has a long history of affiliation with Labor having represented the party as the MP for Bayswater from 2002-2006.

Mr Lockwood denied involvement and said he was hoping the matter would be resolved quickly.

“I hope it’s a swift process so that my name can be cleared,” he said.

Former Whittlesea councillor Stevan Kozmevski was endorsed by Labor in his run for the Lalor Ward, where he beat independent Ellen McNaught by the wafer-thin margin of 39 votes after a recount.

Mr Kozmevski was contacted for comment.

The Herald Sun is not suggesting any wrongdoing on the part of either man or Labor.

Former Whittlesea councillor Stevan Kozmevski won the Lalor Ward by a wafer-thin margin of 39 votes. Picture: Supplied

There was no suggestion the two suspicious returns were connected, Mr Bluemmel said.
“We certainly have raised this as a matter that indicates nefarious intent, rather than being accidental,” Mr Bluemmel said.

There is technically no limit to how many replacement ballot packs voters can order.

However, the multiple returns were just as likely to come from people who had their original packs stolen rather than individuals intentionally requesting multiple packs.

Mr Bluemmel said it was too early to tell whether the suspicious returns had benefited the victorious candidates.

“We classify multiple returns as more than one postal ballot pack return from the same voter, or purporting to be from the same voter,” he said.

“We discovered irregularities in the voter declarations, between the ballot packs returned by voters from the first mail out of ballots and replacement ballot packs that purport to have been completed and returned by the same voters.”

The investigatsion marks the latest in a spate of scandals at Whittlesea Council, which has been run by administrators since 2020. Picture: Josie Hayden

Although the VEC reported the suspicious activity to the Local Government Inspectorate and the police two weeks ago, they were bound by law to wait until the results were certified before referring the matter to VCAT.

The winners of both elections will be serving councillors until the conclusion of what could be two lengthy investigations, with VCAT still suffering a lingering backlog from the Covid pandemic.

“What I would say to the people of that electorate, in fact, every local government and every state electorate, is that we have these processes in place to make sure this is caught, and this shows that the processes are working,” Mr Bluemmel said.
Electoral interference is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $99,000.

Former Merri-Bek councillor Milad El-Halabi was fined $20,000 and given an 18-month community work order after admitting to vote tampering in the 2020 election.
Wednesday’s announcement from the VEC signified yet more trouble for scandal-plagued Whittlesea.

Whittlesea has been run by administrators since the state government sacked the previous council in 2020 amid allegations of corruption, bullying and a “collapse in governance”.

More to come