Ballot bonanza

THOUSANDS of Casey residents who did not vote at the 2012 Council elections could be slapped with a fine in the coming months, with Casey Council set to gain $1.8 million.
There were 26,331 non-voters in Casey, making it the highest number across 73 councils next to Port Phillip City who had 16,652 non-voters.
In total, more than 478,000 non-voters across 73 councils failed-to-vote in last year’s elections.
They will soon receive an apparent failure-to vote notice. Those who do not respond or who fail to provide a sufficient excuse may be issued with an infringement notice carrying a $70 penalty. A penalty reminder notice will be sent to those with an outstanding infringement.
Casey residents flocked to the Cranbourne Berwick News Facebook page with many suggesting that lack of communication was to blame.
Michele Halsall said she was not surprised by the amount of people who failed to vote.
“I believe that the Electoral Office should have delivered a leaflet, separate to any junk mail that is just thrown in the bin, to every household about a month before the voting papers were sent out explaining that the election was on, that it was compulsory to vote, that all Australian residents over 18 had to vote, that it was postal voting, the fine was $70 for not voting and that candidates could be delivering information to their letterboxes so they could keep the information and make an informed vote,” Ms Halsall said.
One residents Claire Waite said she did not receive any mail for the elections.
Sharon Patella said non-English speaking residents in Casey were confused and turned up at the basketball stadium on a Saturday to vote instead of posting their vote by mail.
Judie Hedrick said there were some legitimate excuses for failing to vote.
“It can easily happen if you are sick, or something unexpected makes you forget,” Ms Hedrick wrote.
“If you have a legitimate reason, especially if this is a once off, the council have the power to rescind the fine.”
Mayor Amanda Stapledon said there could be a number of reasons people did not vote, and with many people moving into Casey every day, some people may not have contacted the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC)to notify them of their new address.
Cr Stapledon said she hoped more people would take an interest in the newly elected council prompting them to vote at the next elections.
“We have a professional and hardworking council and hopefully people want us to return and will take interest in the next elections,” she said.
“It is important that people do take notice of their community leaders, state leader and federal leaders and make their vote count.”
The City of Casey’s corporate governance manager Sally Curtain said that in accordance with legislation, the VEC and the council consider excuses provided for not voting.
“Non-voters are encouraged to complete apparent failure to vote notices which are sent to them by the VEC to be considered for exemption from a fine,” Ms Curtain said.
“The council encourages all residents to ensure they are correctly registered on the electoral role and to exercise their democratic rights by voting in all local, state and federal elections. The council has conducted six postal elections since its establishment in 1994, as research/data indicates there is a higher participation rate through postal voting.”
Ms Curtain said that the City of Casey would receive the money from failure to vote fines and those funds will contribute to the council’s revenue and will be used to partly off-set the cost of holding elections.
An apparent failure-to-vote notice will not be issued to those who are automatically excused from their requirement to vote at local council elections, such as those who are over 70 years of age.
For further details about voting statistics, please contact the Victorian Electoral Commission.