We want Darebin Council to hold an Election Day on Saturday, 22 October 2016 by switching from postal-only voting to attendance voting. Councillors will make a decision on Monday, 15 February 2016.

Attendance voting is good for our community!

1. Attendance voting is better for Darebin residents and worse for dodgy property developers. These developers love postal-only voting so they can enlist their friends and family as 'dummy candidates'. These dummy candidates aren't meant to get elected; their purpose is to attract votes from unsuspecting voters who might otherwise support a genuine, community-minded candidate. Through 'gaming' the preferences system (a bit like the Senate), these dummy candidates are used to funnel votes to elect pro-developer Councillors who push through shoddy and inappropriate developments against the wishes of our community. This is known as the 'dummy candidate trick' and was the focus of a Government Inquiry following the 2012 Council Elections, when the practice was widespread.
2. Attendance voting helps local schools to plan and prepare fundraising activities like fetes and sausage sizzles with eight months notice of the Election Day (22 October 2016). In comparison, schools will only get a few weeks notice of the Federal Election to be held this year. With short notice, Darebin schools do a great job at fundraising, with Bell Primary parents raising $30,000 at the 2013 Federal Election. Imagine what all schools could do with eight months to plan and prepare?
3. Attendance voting is better for local democracy. It will lead to a greater residential voter turnout than the previous postal-only elections in Darebin. Voters are given more time to vote early if they can't make it to Election Day and they can still apply for a postal vote if they can't make it in person (just like a State or Federal Election).

Please sign our petition and email the Darebin Councillors to let them know what you think! Here are their addresses: 

mayor@darebin.vic.gov.au, Bo-Li@cr.darebin.org, Julie-Williams@cr.darebin.org, Steven-Tsitas@cr.darebin.org, Oliver-Walsh@cr.darebin.org, Trent-McCarthy@cr.darebin.org, Gaetano-Greco@cr.darebin.org, Tim-Laurence@cr.darebin.org, Angela-Villella@cr.darebin.org