Residents in the Greater Bendigo council region are being asked to check their mailboxes for ballot packs, as voting in the Lockwood Ward byelection officially gets underway.
The state’s Electoral Commission posted the first lot of packs last Friday, March 6th, and continued mailing them until Thursday of this week.
In a chat with Robbo on the Wake Up Call earlier this week, Victorian Electoral Commissioner Sven Bluemmel said the packs were sent out “in random order” for security reasons.
He expects households will receive them by “early next week at the latest”.
Approximately ten thousand people are set to vote in the byelection, including residents of Marong, Myers Flat, Maiden Gully, Ironbark and Long Gully.
Voting is compulsory, and those who don’t return their ballot will face a $102 penalty.
But, Mr Bluemmel stresses that fines won’t be handed out to non-voters straight away.
“What we do is we first write to them… and then we engage with that person who might be able to provide us with some evidence to say… ‘I did vote’ or ‘Here’s where I posted my ballot’ and so forth,” he said.
“If there isn’t a valid excuse then eventually that will become a fine, but there’s always an opportunity for people to have a fair hearing about what actually happened.”
The byelection has come about due to a vacancy in Lockwood Ward, following the resignation of former Councillor John McIlrath in November last year.
He was elected as the ward’s representative at the 2024 council elections with 59.23 percent of the vote in a two-way contest with Jay Brady.
This time around, eight candidates are vying for the council seat.
Voting slips must be in their sealed envelopes and in the post by 6pm on Friday, March 27th.
They can also be delivered in-person to the temporary election office at 62-64 Hattam Street, Golden Gully.
More information is available on the VEC’s website.
Is there a story you reckon we should cover? We’ll happily receive your tips via BendigoNews@ARN.com.au
