UPDATED: Golden Plains Shire council election candidate Ian Getsom said yesterday he was still receiving messages from frustrated voters in Haddon about missing ballot packs, just a day before the deadline for the 2020 poll.
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"Our mail is normally delivered by 8:30am and still no voting papers. Friday is a public holiday - and mail is not normally delivered on Friday anyway - so you won't have my vote," wrote one voter to Mr Getsom.
"I am located in Wilsons Rd Haddon and my close neighbours, plus my back neighbour who is off Greenbank Court are in the same position. If the election is close put in a protest."
The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) acknowledged a number of voters in Haddon had not received voting material and said the matter had been resolved on Wednesday, with material being delivered on Thursday.
"Whilst a number of replacement votes were issued during the week, requests received from remaining affected voters that were processed on Wednesday have been delivered by Australia Post today" (Thursday), a spokesperson said.
Mr Getsom disagrees.
"I've had numerous calls from people saying they haven't received ballots. One told me there was 'no way known' the ballots would arrive in time."
Another voter worried the missing packs expressed a darker purpose.
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"Has there been a delay in the process/delivery or have they been stolen for nefarious use in rigging the election? I do like my vote to be counted... but in these elections it will be missing. You may want to investigate."
Polls close 6pm on Friday October 23. the VEC reminds voters with ballots that votes completed by the voter before the close of voting and received by the VEC before 12 noon on Friday 30 October will be accepted.
"As at 3.20pm the overall response rate for all councils is 61.26 per cent, which is well ahead of where we were at this time in 2016," a VEC spokesperson told The Courier.
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UPDATED, TUEDAY, 5:40pm: Ballots have been delivered, says VEC.
Voters in parts of the Golden Plains Shire are still awaiting delivery of their ballot papers as the closing of council election polls draws closer.
Local Government voting, conducted exclusively by post in Victoria, closes at 6pm on Friday, October 23, and enrolled voters who have not returned a ballot may receive a Apparent Failure to Vote Notice or an infringement notice and $83 fine.
Some voters in the shire, which encompasses the area between Geelong and Ballarat, have contacted their local Victorian Electoral Commission office with concerns postal ballots have not arrived.
One voter told The Courier he was aware his ballot was not the only one which hadn't been delivered; on contacting the local VEC office he was told '75 per cent' of their calls were regarding undelivered voting papers.
The Courier is awaiting a response from the VEC about the missing ballots; calls to the Golden Plains Shire election office were transferred to a second 'overfill line' after extended delays on hold.
According to the VEC website, ballot packs were mailed to enrolled voters between Tuesday 6 and Thursday 8 October.
A spokesperson for the VEC confirmed on Tuesday night a "small number of voters in Haddon Ward in Golden Plains Shire Council reported they had not received their ballot packs.
"We have been in contact with Australia Post, who have assured us that all ballot papers have now been delivered to voters in Golden Plains Shire," the VEC said.
The spokesperson said a counter service was available for enrolled voters to collect ballots from the Golden Plains Shire electoral office, if they were concerned they had not received a ballot in the post.
Golden Plains Shire Council is an unsubdivided council with seven councillors. Ratepayers can vote for councillors to represent the council area as a whole.
There have been no reports of ballots undelivered in Ballarat, Moorabool, Hepburn, Pyrenees or Central Goldfields shires.