Election report calls for change to meet emerging challenges

Wednesday 15 October 2025

For immediate release

A report tabled by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) on the conduct of Victoria’s 2024 local council elections has called for changes to Victoria’s local government legislation.

The election was a success, with more than 4.3 million Victorians casting their vote and the lowest informality rate on record. However, the VEC has recommended broad reform to ensure it can continue to meet the expectations of all Victorians for transparent and fair elections, and safeguard against increasing integrity threats.

The report makes 10 key recommendations and 27 operational commitments, including:

a continued focus on strengthening safeguards to detect and prevent postal vote fraud
exploring options to publish provisional results in real time
expanding the candidate questionnaire to include party membership, so voters have clear information about candidates’ political affiliations.

‘The 2024 council elections were the most complex to date and they were successfully delivered,’ Electoral Commissioner Sven Bluemmel said. ‘Our focus is on the integrity of elections. When issues arose, our people and systems caught them quickly and responded rapidly.’

Mr Bluemmel also highlighted the unprecedented challenges and the increasing complexity of election delivery.

‘We are committed to continuous improvement in the delivery of elections,’ Mr Bluemmel added, ‘I look forward to providing updates in future election service plans and reports on the progress of our commitments.’

The full report is available on the Victorian Electoral Commission website.