Victorian voters have being encouraged to utilise social media to investigate potential councillors amid growing fears of “dummy candidates” inflating votes for certain individuals.
One such example is Yarra Council candidate Simon Geminder, who has leveraged both his candidate statement and questionnaire to publicly support sitting Councillor Michael Glynatsis, who is also running in the same ward.
“I just want to say, if you are sick of fake environmentalists running the show, make sure that you vote for Michael Glynatsis as your #1 preference,” Geminder’s statement said.
“Just go to Michael Glynatsis instead. He ‘101 per cent agrees’ (his words) with my views contained here, and is the much stronger candidate with actual council experience and time commitment to put in the hard yards.”
According to Herald Sun, a Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) spokesperson commented, saying: “Under the law we must accept nominations if a candidate is eligible to be a councillor and has successfully completed the nomination process.”
“We can’t ask about a candidate’s motivation for nominating,” they added.
*The Greek Herald has reached out to Councillor Glynatsis for comment.
Source: Herald Sun.
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