VOTER BALLOT SAFETY CLOUDS FREO MAYORAL WIN

ONE of the lowest voter turnouts in Fremantle has elected a new mayor and two new councillors amid claims ballot packages were opened without proper scrutiny on local government election night.
“Someone without any scrutiny has opened mayoral ballots at an off-site location then returned them to Fremantle on Saturday,” mayoral candidate Mark Woodcock told StreetWise.
“The scrutineers found the ballots in the mayoral boxes didn’t add up. There were anywhere between 18 and 50 extra ballots per box, additional. If someone is allowed to sit there, open the ballots and read them, you can do your own quick count as to where things sit and know what you have to add in replacement ballots.”
Ben Lawver won the mayoral seat by 852 votes. Andrew Sullivan scraped back in by more than 200 votes. Hannah Fitzhardinge and Jenny Archibald join Doug Thompson and Adin Lang in retirement.
Independents Marija Vujcic and Mark Woodcock put up a spirited challenge. As did Sally McKay who lost to Pip Slaughter in east ward where the votes were so close (36) they were recounted today.
Cr Sullivan beat former councillor Ms Vujcic (1265 to 1035) and Melanie Clark took out north ward with 1039 votes over Peter Yates’ 961.
It will therefore be interesting given what Mr Woodcock and StreetWise readers saw on election day how many replacement packages were used on election day, particularly east and north wards where the difference was less than 100 votes.
WAEC confirmed hundreds of replacement voter packs were issued to the City to cover any shortfalls in the mayoral and ward contests in Fremantle. More than half of these spares called ‘overs’ were issued yesterday to replace ballot papers voters lost or did not receive in the mail. The line was chockers from 4.30pm to 6pm.
WAEC will not break down the number of allocated overs but in previous elections the number issued is 100 per ward so how many were used is relevant to voting outcomes in close elections such as east (36 votes) and north ward (78 votes).
In 2023, the City used 158 out of 400 overs (100 per ward). Of those, the City used 26 in central; 30 north; 18 east; and 84 coastal where the balance of power fell to Cr Jemima Williamson-Wong who defeated Ms Vujcic 955 to 884.

Chain of custody?

StreetWise readers who voted in the 2025 elections received incomplete voting packages including ballot papers addressed to bogus people who did not live at their mailing address in Fremantle.
One High Street voter who arrived back in WA last week found three ballot packages addressed to him and two other people whose ballots came with a supporting letter from Federal Labor MP Josh Wilson.
StreetWise has reached out to the two people online to find out how their names ended up on ballots mailed to the reader’s address. Their names also appear under the same address on the State roll.
WAEC said the term ‘overs’ is an internal operational term used by WAEC to describe additional ballots printed beyond those mailed out. Overs are used to form replacement voter packs and are not separately reported. These ballot papers are additional to ballot papers provided for an elector to cast a provisional vote: “(They) are not bar-coded as they are required to have no individual identification features to preserve the secrecy of the elector’s vote. Should the supply run low for any of these contests, the local government notifies the WAEC, who are able to provide additional ballot papers from a supply held by WAEC.”
WAEC told StreetWise the number of replacement ballots used in Fremantle will be available next year: “Figures on Replacement Voter Packs and Provisional Votes used will be included in the 2025 post-election report, consistent with WAEC’s commitment to transparency and electoral integrity.”
The elected members table will look very different in 2026 when the new councillors join Geoff Graham (central), Jemima Williamson-Wong (coastal), Ingrid van Dorssen (north), Frank Mofflin (east) and elected unopposed Fedele J. Camarda (east).
Mr Woodcock said Lawver’s well-funded campaign lacked substance, just plenty of social media posts and enough corflutes to resolve Freo’s shrinking canopy cover.
“He is never going to be able to handle the finances,” he said, adding Lawver was supported by the Maritime Union of Australia and local supporters of teal candidate in the state and federal elections Kate Hulett.
“We’ll have to wait and see what his masters or whoever is pulling his chain expects from him.”
On August 15, Cr Lawver told Streetwise he joined the mayoral race to end what he said was a lack of leadership and action over issues such as homelessness, empty shops and local planning: “If we continue as we have in the past four years into the next four years, it is not going to be acceptable.”
He said running for mayor was, “one of the scariest things I’ve done”, adding, “but I’m not a fan of Hannah’s leadership style and there a lot of people who feel that as well. A lot of people don’t want her to win”.
Ms Vujcic and Mr Woodcock agreed: “Hannah pissed people off. It was not about finances, it was her arrogance and public bullying of people and organisations such as The Fremantle Society.”
Mayor Lawver said the City under her leadership had not pushed back or lobbied the State Government over the new WA Police complex, maintenance at Arthur’s Head and a car wash in South Fremantle.
“Four years ago, she promised to have Notre Dame pay rates and fill empty shops, but issue after issue she hasn’t done what she promised.”
The policy officer for Labor Senator Glenn Sterle and former maritime union official said as mayor he wanted to work as a team with fellow elected members instead of the current arrangement in which only the mayor can speak and make announcements publicly.
“I want to use the strengths of each councillor. We have a good group of people who should be out there talking about things they are passionate about instead of it coming through one elected member.”
He said he will follow up his campaign promise for a free public transit zone or CAT bus service to ease congestion during the bridge closures, better support for the arts and protection of the West End, increased tree canopy and keeping the working port in Fremantle.