Council voting closes this Friday

Voters have until Friday to cast their vote for Baw Baw and Cardinia Shire elections.

Voters have until 6pm on Friday to return their completed ballot papers.

There are 16 candidates vying for election to the nine councillor vacancies in Baw Baw Shire. Three councillors will be elected in each of the three wards.

In Cardinia Shire, 40 candidates are seeking election to eight vacancies across eight wards. Current mayor Jeff Springfield has been elected unopposed to the Ranges Ward.

Seven of the nine sitting councillors in Baw Baw Shire have all sought re-election. Former mayor Mikaela Power and Cr Jessica O’Donnell have not renominated.

In the Central Ward, candidates in ballot paper order are Jazmin Tauru, Danny Goss, Joe Gauci, Wayne Farnham and Farhat Firdous.

East ward attracted the biggest field with seven candidates in ballot paper order being Peter Kostos, Michael Leaney, Teresa Mitchell, Graeme Hart, Inge Mitchell, Arfa Khan and Darren Wallace.

In the West Ward, the four candidates in ballot paper order include Benjamin Lucas, Tricia Jones, Annemarie McCabe and Keith Cook.

In Cardinia Shire, there are eight vacancies with one councillor to be elected in each ward.

The two wards covering Bunyip to Nar Nar Goon and south to Catani and Yannathan are Bunyip and Westernport wards.

Candidates for Bunyip Ward in ballot paper order are Chris Andrews, Graeme Moore, Sharon Verschaeren and Kylie Hamilton.

In Westernport Ward, the candidates include Ray Brown, Siegfried Rehburg and Kaye Cameron.

Everyone registered on the electoral roll over the age of 18 must vote.

Postal voting timelines may be extended for local government elections if additional time is needed to cater for mail delivery delays.

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) has been given authority to extend the postal voting timeline to ensure voter participation and election results are not affected by any possible mail delivery delays.

Completed ballot material must be posted before final local mail clearance times. Voters should check their local mail clearance times, as this may be earlier than 6pm or earlier in the week.

Alternatively, voters can hand-deliver their ballot material by the 6pm deadline to electoral office located at The Goods Shed, Warragul Railway Station.

Extended hours for voters to hand-deliver their completed ballot material apply from 9am to 8pm on Thursday and 9am to 6pm on Friday.