Business Misses the Boat on the Vote

The business community in Double Bay has been left without a vote in the March 15 Woollahra Council byelection because none of the 700-odd business ratepayers registered to vote in time.

The Double Bay Chamber of Commerce deputy chair Lesli Berger said the fact that not a single business will vote “for the first time in living memory” is “scandalous” and should be met with legislative change.

The problem arose as former Residents First councillor Elena Kirillova resigned on January 31, leaving little time after busy Christmas period for people to enrol before the roll closed on February 3. 

Mr Berger said the legislation made it compulsory for residents to vote, but businesses were not even notified about the opportunity to enrol. 

“After every local government election the electoral role is purged for the business ratepayers … that is what has led to this appalling outcome,” he said. 

“What we are calling for is the State Government to fix these appalling laws and to adopt what occurs in Melbourne City Council, which is having a system of automatically enrolling business ratepayers to vote in the local government elections. 

“You can’t make voting attendance compulsory for non-residents but if you were to automatically enrol them you’d get a … higher submission rate.”

Robbie Patterson

Wentworth Courier March 2014