Wyndham council could face a countback if candidates in last year’s election are found to have been involved in unlawful conduct.
Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins said it was unlikely that a re-election would take place.
The Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate is investigating all 95 candidates who contested last year’s Wyndham council election amid concerns of bribery, unlawful nominations and deceptive conduct.
Ms Hutchins said a countback or by-election would be the most likely actions taken if a guilty party or parties were identified.
“That’s usually what happens when somebody resigns … or there may be a direction from the Magistrate’s Court that they want to see a new election in that ward,” she said.
“If there’s some [wrongdoing] found, I highly doubt that the whole council would have to go back to an election.”
Western MP Bernie Finn recently called on Ms Hutchins to suspend all 11 Wyndham councillors during the investigation, but the minister said she would not appoint administrators, nor could she have intervened during the election campaign.
“Electoral matters are really for the VEC [Victorian Electoral Commission] to investigate,” she said.
“Then, of course, if the candidate gets elected it’s a matter for the chief municipal inspector to investigate, which is what’s happening now.”
