Wyndham residents won’t know who makes up their new council until November 2.
Voters had a deadline of 6pm Friday to have their ballots in the mail. Those who didn’t are likely to receive a fine of $78.
As of 12.30pm on Monday, 84,287 enrolled voters had returned their ballots, with the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) waiting on 56,723 – or 40.23 per cent.
VEC spokesman Lawson Fletcher said returns would increase over this week as the commission receives postal ballots mailed last week.
“Regarding result timelines, Wyndham council is made up of multi-member wards,” Mr Fletcher said. “For these wards, we conduct a computer count.
“While counting activities will commence in the week following close of voting, the VEC now has an extra five working days to accept ballots [mailed before close of voting] into the count, up to noon on October 28,” he said.
Mr Fletcher said because computer counts can only be undertaken once all admissible ballot papers are received, results for Wyndham will not be available until after the deadline.
“You can expect full provisional results between noon October 28 and October 30,” he said. The official declaration of results will take place at the council chambers on November 2.
This year’s election in Wyndham has broken a national record for the greatest number of candidates vying for a spot on the council – 95 hopefuls are fighting it out for just 11 places.
Harrison ward has attracted the most candidates, with 41 battling for one of four spots available. This ward will definitely see fresh blood, with councillors Bob Fairclough and Glenn Goodfellow not re-contesting.
Thirty-five candidates are contesting Chaffey ward, with all incumbents putting their hand up again. In Iramoo, 19 candidates have thrown their hats in the ring, with incumbent Peter Gibbons bowing out.
