FREO ELECTORAL DISPUTE DRAGS OUT TO OCTOBER

THE validity of the disputed 2023 local government elections in Fremantle will be tested in October – a year after thousands of ballot papers were mailed incorrectly to central and coastal ward voters.
Parties returned to court on Monday. The WAEC which asked electors to vote twice in the same election after it mixed up a reported 12,000 ballots in both new wards; Greater Fremantle Community & Business Association; former south ward councillor Marija Vujcic; and coastal ward councillor Jemima Williamson-Wong, who won by 71 first-preference votes. Ms Williamson-Wong represented herself having previously engaged Hammond Legal and former WA premier Peter Dowding.
The City of Fremantle is MIA, seemingly unwilling to learn from WAEC’s mistakes even though it is the interested party that paid WAEC to run the elections now under scrutiny by Magistrate Trevor Darge.
StreetWise understands the parties have spent the past few weeks compiling and scrutinising witness statements including a sample of cases in which voters recount details of their incorrect ballots.
WAEC conducted two investigations into the botched 2023 elections, but the findings have not been released publicly. In its 2023 election report, WAEC states as a consequence of the invalidity complaints, “the Commission is not providing any comprehensive commentary on the matter in this report”.
But it did acknowledge WAEC was alerted to the error in its distribution of election packages to the two wards, “Having corrected the error quickly the election proceeded with new packages issued to electors”.
StreetWise has applied under Freedom of Information for documents which shed light on how many ‘blank’ ballot papers the City used in 2021 and disputed 2023 elections.
WAEC has in StreetWise’s view not complied with FOI laws and asked the WA Office of the Information Commissioner to review WAEC’s decision to withhold documents when they are in the public interest.
Magistrate Darge will hear from the parties on October 23 and 24.
Additional reports at https://www.streetwisemedia.com.au.