Wyndham council elections should be cancelled and administrators appointed instead of councillors, state Upper House Liberal MP Bernie Finn believes.
His call came after the close of nominations last week resulted in Wyndham breaking the national record for the highest number of candidates contesting a local government poll – a whopping 95 candidates for 11 positions.
Mr Finn, who is a western metropolitan MLC and opposition spokesman on electoral integrity, called on the Local Government Minister to step in and take action, labelling the October 22 poll “a farce”.
“I think the minister has a statutory responsibility to cancel this election and appoint administrators,” Mr Finn said.
“There is no way this can result in a council with any credibility.
“This is an insult to the people of Wyndham.”
Mr Finn said the high number of candidates could result in the informal vote skyrocketing.
“We are looking at [an informal vote] of at least 50 per cent, because people just won’t know what’s going on,” he said. “They’re going to open up that ballot paper, faced with so many names, fold it up and put it back in the envelope.”
An Act of Parliament is needed to cancel an election.
A spokesman for Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins said the department was confident in the ability of the Victorian Electoral Commission to hold successful elections across all municipalities.
“It is everyone’s democratic right to stand for election, provided they are eligible to be a candidate, and it is ultimately the voters of Wyndham who have the final say in who becomes a councillor,” he said.
Victorian Electoral Commission spokesman Lawson Fletcher acknowledged the informal vote could increase in Wyndham.
“Historically, ballot papers with a higher number of candidates can increase the rate of informal voting,” he said.
Wyndham council chief executive Kelly Grigsby said with such a large number of candidates, is was important residents number every box correctly to ensure their vote counts.
