By Campbell Spence 

It is now harder for non-resident property owners to vote in Council elections. Previously, property owners who didn’t live in Port Phillip were automatically enrolled on the Council’s electoral roll so that they would receive ballot papers by post.

Now non-resident property owners must apply to be on their Council’s electoral roll if they want to vote in the October 2024 and any future local council elections and by-elections. Changes to the rules were made by the Victorian Government when the Local Government Act in 2020 was amended.

If you are a non-resident property or business owner who pays rates in the City of Port Phillip, you must opt-in by enrolling with the Council if you wish to vote in the election/s.

The Council website advises that they are posting application forms to non-resident property and business owners and applications must be returned by before “4pm on the day the roll closes” which is not specified.

The local council elections will be held in October, by postal ballot. The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) will send ballot packs with instructions to all enrolled voters in Port Phillip to vote, in early October.

The diagram below shows the types of voters who are eligible to vote in this election.

Source: https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/about-the-council/who-we-are/council-elections

How many voters are affected by the new rules?

In 2020 there were approximately 22,500 non-resident ratepayers of a total of 75,000 properties in Port Phillip. Nearly one-third of Port Phillip ratepayers will have to opt-in to receive a ballot paper in October this year.

These voters were automatically listed on the Council election roll in 2020 and received ballot papers by post. In 2020 voter turnout was greatly improved with 70% of enrolled voters lodging a paper postal ballot compared to 49% at the 2016 election which was largely attendance voting at polling booths. In 2016 only 10% of non-resident property owners voted. The reason given by these ratepayers to Port Phillip Matters, is that they either did not know they could vote in two Council areas, or it was too difficult to attend a polling booth.

Prior to 2020, the City of Port Phillip had the lowest voter turnouts in Victoria because most absentee property owners did not vote.

We can expect a poor turnout if non-resident voters do not opt-in to enroll for voting. A poor voter turnout would be a smack in the face for democracy! How can Councillors claim they represent the community if less than half of the electorate voted? Is this good for democracy in Port Phillip?