As of last Thursday, only 20% of Port Phillip Council election ballots have arrived at the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC). This means a whopping 55,000 ballots are either in the mail or yet to be cast.
Ballots must be mailed before 6 pm on Friday this week (25 October) to be counted. *
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* You can also drop your ballot pack off at the election office located at Port Melbourne Town Hall, 333 Bay Street (enter via Spring Street South), Port Melbourne before 6 pm on Friday 25 October.
Extended hours for voters to hand deliver their completed ballot pack apply from 9 am to 8 pm on Thursday 24 October and 9 am to 6 pm on Friday 25 October. Voting is compulsory for voters who were on the state or council roll for this election at 4 pm on Wednesday 7 August.
Enrolled voters who don’t vote may be fined.
Voter’s role plunges by over 14,000
A small change to the voting rules by State Government has removed thousands on non-resident voters from the electoral roll. This could have a dramatic impact on the ‘blue’ side of politics that usually benefit from direct mail campaigns to non-resident voters in their thousands.
Figures supplied by the VEC show that the number of ballots issued to vote in the 2024 Port Phillip Council election is dramatically lower than in 2020.
The total enrolment in 2020 was 88,260, but in this election the enrolment has shrunk by 14,162 voters to 74,098 – nearly a 20% reduction in eligible voters,
The answer to this riddle is a category of non-resident voters, namely Council-enrolled voters: ratepayers such as property owners, occupiers or corporations.
In 2024, this category adds up to only 1,417 voters on a list maintained by the Council – and the data suggests this represents a reduction of over 14,000 voters. Ouch.
TWiSK understands that this list has shrunk dramatically since the 2020 local elections because of a fine-print law change that required non-resident ratepayers to apply to join the council voter’s roll. (See VEC for details)
FYI The Age “How a rule tweak left hundreds of thousands of ratepayers unable to vote”
