Victorian Electoral Commissioner, Warwick Gately has moved to reassure Victorians that the safety and wellbeing of voters, candidates and election staff is at the centre of the Victorian Electoral Commission’s (VEC’s) COVIDSafe election plan released yesterday.
The plan has been released following confirmation from the Minister for Local Government, the Hon. Shaun Leane MP, that local council elections will proceed in October as originally scheduled.
The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) is disappointed by the announcement of the Government’s decision not to defer the state’s council elections.
The MAV believes the October elections have been seriously compromised by COVID-19.
MAV President, Councillor Coral Ross said it was incredibly frustrating that the State Government had not listened to the sector, and taken the commonsense decision to delay elections.
“We have been calling for a deferral of local government elections for months now due to the significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on free and fair elections.
“Minister Leane’s announcement today means that the elections will not have the quality and diversity of candidates that Victoria deserves.
“We know that not all councils were in favour of postponing council elections until 2021, but in the current environment and State of Disaster, it would have been a sensible and practical decision, for communities, candidates and councils.”
