By MEGAN OGLE
CONTROVERSY surrounds new Noosa Mayor Tony Wellington as an investigation into alleged dodgy polling booth antics are being investigated by the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ).
The ECQ has confirmed a complaint was received by unsuccessful candidate Ken Coleman outlining the alleged interference of voters by Cr Wellington and his supporters, saying candidates were disadvantaged by the incident.
The ECQ has confirmed the complaint will be investigated.
Mr Coleman alleges Cr Wellington “intercepted” voters in the carpark of the Noosa Christian Outreach Centre (NCOC) during pre-polling and directed them to the Returning Officer’s Production Avenue polling booth before they were able to receive how-to-vote cards from other candidates, a claim Cr Wellington denies.
“No one was obstructed from approaching the Christian Outreach Centre at any time,” Cr Wellington said.
“There were occasions when prospective voters arrived at the Christian Outreach Centre, saw the long queue and then chose to drive away and not to vote. Some of these people were told that there was an alternative place they could go to do their voting.”
Mr Coleman said many candidates who had witnessed the incident had complained to Noosa’s Returning Officer Colin Brown and on two separate occasions emails were sent to the candidates by Mr Brown with an order to cease the behaviour, saying it was “inappropriate” and obstructed voters.
“It is not appropriate to stop electors from having the opportunity of obtaining that material,” Mr Brown said.
“If people have strolled past all of you and then realise that the queue is really long, then and only then can you suggest that they may come to my office.”
Cr Wellington said his campaign manager had received verification from Mr Brown that it was OK to refer voters to the Production Avenue site and said candidates had been given the opportunity to have volunteers at the location.
“Every candidate had the opportunity to have volunteers at Production Street, and some took advantage of that opportunity,” Cr Wellington said.
“Both the Christian Outreach Centre and the Returning Office in Production Street were open for voting during the pre-poll period. All candidates were told this. Both were legitimate polling places.”
Mr Coleman said he had refrained from commenting on the election process but felt it was “necessary” to speak out.
“I do not do this lightly, I do not intend to cause controversy for the sake of it, nor do I wish personal gain from this situation,” Mr Coleman said.
“I want it to be clear that I acknowledge my defeat in the polls and any action by any authority will not see me elected to Noosa Council, I do however have a strong sense of ethical justice, and a campaign commitment to common sense.”
Mr Coleman said it was difficult to tell how many voters were denied how-to-vote cards by candidates due to the actions of Cr Wellington and his volunteers as he says Mr Brown was not made aware of the issue for some time.
“This clearly disadvantaged those candidates with a lower public profile and may have swung the balance of voting away from a new candidate for council,” he said.
However Cr Wellington said there was no advantage in sending a “handful” of voters to the Production Avenue location as he claims other candidate’s volunteers were also present.
Mr Coleman also called into question the rejection of rival candidate Elaine Williams’ request for a recount saying “a doubt had been cast” over the election process.
“During interviews on ABC radio today (1 April), a spokesperson for the ECQ said that they were “100 per cent satisfied“ that the counting of votes for the councillors election was accurate,” Mr Coleman said.
“This is in spite of trialling a new counting method, having operational problems with the scanning equipment, various counting irregularities and the lodgement of at least two formal complaints to the Electoral Commission by candidates prior to the count being finished.”
“What has not been considered by the commission is the fact that the actions of Mayor Wellington’s team affected the possible vote prior to voting taking place, and it was done in such a way as to deny the public the opportunity to cast an unprejudiced, informed ballot for the candidate of their choosing.”
