THE Electoral Commission of Queensland say there is “insufficient evidence” to investigate claims of fraud in the Croydon Shire council election.
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Candidate Darrell Morris, who missed out on election to council, had asked the ECQ to delay announcing the result until they investigated claims of people voting who were not on the Croydon Shire roll.
“I have identified 24 names of people that do not live in this Shire,” Mr Morris said.
“Some of these people are known to live in Atherton, Mount Garnet, Palm Beach and Townsville.
“This is 14 per cent of our electoral roll.”
Mr Morris also said that on election day at least one person not on the roll known to live in Atherton was seen being escorted into a polling booth by a stakeholder and seen voting.
“At least three of the address that people have identified as being their residences are vacant lots with no buildings on them,” he said.
“One of them is actually Queensland Government state land.”
Mr Morris said the returning officer advised an Indigenous elder that Aboriginal people in the community were not eligible for postal votes.
“This has possibly resulted in up to 30 citizens not being able to vote. Some for the first time,” he said.
Mr Morris said there were other issues including an unknown ‘ECQ’ officer handling votes on election night and scrutineers having limited access to the vote counting.
He said he raised the matter with State Member Robbie Katter’s office and also asked that the ECQ not declare the result in Croydon until these matters were fully investigated.
Another candidate who preferred not to be named also supported Mr Morris’s allegations.
However the ECQ told the North West Star on Friday there was no case to answer.
“The ECQ is aware of the complaint, however there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations,” a spokesperson said.
“The ECQ is entitled to rely on the electoral roll as a true and accurate document.
“A result has been declared in both the Croydon Shire Mayor and Councillor elections.”
Robbie Katter’s office said they had been made aware of the claims made by Croydon residents.
“We have been in contact with the ECQ and the Attorney-General’s office and forwarded on the claims to ensure they are investigated,” a spokesperson for Mr Katter said.
Mayor Trevor Pickering retained office winning the election by 20 votes from his cousin John Pickering.
Councillors elected were Jim Gilmartin, Wayne Bing Chew, Kim Gaynor and Jeffrey Norman.
The North West Star has contacted Trevor Pickering for comment.
