Nervous wait as votes recounted

By Mary Alexander
Updated November 7 2012 - 12:08pm, first published December 5 2008 - 10:25am

MOYNE Shire's last elected councillor has admitted to "an anxious wait" after documents were filed yesterday calling for a recount of last week's vote.Purnim's Geoff Rollinson, who filled the seventh seat at the council table after a narrow three-vote win against Mick Wolfe from Port Fairy, said no one could be confident about the result of a challenge."I'm philosophical about the outcome and will accept whatever decision is handed down," Mr Rollinson said.Former councillor Dick Prendergast filed documents in Warrnambool Magistrates Court yesterday disputing the election result and calling for the Attorney-General to appoint a Municipal Electoral Tribunal.Under the Local Government Act, a candidate or any 10 voters who dispute the validity of the election can apply for a hearing."I've got my signatures," Mr Prendergast said.His application for a recount is believed to be based on three key points: the narrow margin; the heavy workload faced by Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) counting staff during the weekend poll; and an alleged computer glitch half-way through the count. "I understand the call that's been made because of the slim margin," Cr Rollinson said. However, he disputed the remaining grounds, labelling them "misconceptions".He said the Moyne count was the first completed at 3.30pm on Saturday afternoon, so VEC staff were not tired or fatigued at that stage.Cr Rollinson said the computer malfunction occurred during a procedural phase of the count after all the ballot papers had been logged into the system and not half-way through."It's that fact that gives me a little bit of confidence," he said, adding that he had a scrutineer present during the entire count.He admitted that he was not confident of filling the seventh council position after the primary vote figures put him in ninth place on 580 votes.He believed preferences, mainly from the next-placed candidate Gillian Blair, got him over the line. Mr Wolfe's primary count was 842 votes - the fifth highest.Cr Rollinson denied being at the top of the ballot paper gave him an advantage. "Donkey votes did not factor . . . People closely followed candidate preferences."

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