Former Merri-bek councillor pleads guilty to vote tampering
Friday 28 June 2024
For immediate release
Former Merri-bek councillor Milad El-Halabi has avoided a jail sentence by pleading guilty to offences involving stealing and forging votes in the 2020 Merri-bek City Council election.
In October 2020, through its own rigorous systems and the vigilant actions of its staff, the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) detected that some votes had been tampered with in the postal election for North-West Ward in what was then Moreland City Council. By law, the VEC was required to declare the result of that election and the matter was immediately referred to Victoria Police.
In separate proceedings last year, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) found that Milad El-Halabi was not duly elected as a councillor for Merri-bek City Council’s North-West Ward, but held that the 2020 election of 3 other councillors for North-West Ward was not affected by fraudulent ballots in the count.
Acknowledging today’s sentence, a community correction order of 18 months and a fine of $20,000, Electoral Commissioner Sven Bluemmel reminded all Victorians that the VEC’s work does not end today.
‘What this matter has demonstrated is that our processes and safeguards to protect democracy and electoral integrity are working.’
‘Work has continued over the last 4 years with Victoria's local government sector, relevant law enforcement agencies, and Australia Post to further secure the system and ensure this doesn’t reoccur,’ Mr Bluemmel said.
As a result, the VEC is centralising public enquiries for the upcoming postal elections in October to help monitor for any patterns and trends. Ballot packs will also be mailed randomly, over a longer period to further reduce the impact of any attempt to tamper with votes. These changes along with other operational changes will provide the VEC with more sophisticated data to detect unexpected activity in real time.
‘Victorians can have confidence that postal voting remains a safe and secure system in Victoria, and we remain vigilant to any attempt to undermine this process and will take action where necessary.’
Media information
Why was the Merri-bek City Council, North-West Ward election not suspended in 2020?
By law, the VEC was required to proceed with the election and declare the result as soon as practicable, despite concerns about the validity of some ballot papers. As a result, the VEC was compelled to comply with its statutory obligations in relation to the election.
Under the Local Government Act 2020, VCAT is responsible for hearing disputes about the validity of local government elections. Immediately after declaring the result, the VEC applied to VCAT for an inquiry into the election.
Why did the VEC not conduct another election?
Any decision to overturn the election was a matter for VCAT.
The VEC submitted to VCAT that the current council was most likely representative of the will of the voters, as Mr El-Halabi was the fourth-elected councillor and the countback conducted following his resignation in February 2022 redistributed votes according to voters’ preferences.
VCAT accepted this submission and determined that on the balance of probability the election of Councillor Monica Harte through the countback was not affected by fraud.
An earlier version of this media release, Former Merri-bek councillor pleads guilty to stealing votes was published on Thursday 27 June 2024. This has been corrected to more clearly align with the sentencing remarks.