Date set for shire of Donnybrook-Balingup residents to return to polls to fill vacant councillor position

Residents in the shire of Donnybrook-Balingup will head back to the polls early next year, with a date set for an extraordinary election following a councillor’s resignation. During a special council meeting on November 12, councillors decided to hold the election on March 28 to fill the vacant position left by Lisa Glover, who resigned last month. Councillors opted for an in-person vote after the initial executive recommendation proposing a postal vote failed to pass, with president Vivienne MacCarthy and Crs Anita Lindemann and Grant Patrick the only three voting in its favour. Cr Alexis Davy put forward an alternative motion proposing the in-person election, saying it would be a good opportunity for the shire to trial the different form of voting. “I still see it as a democratic process,” she said. “It would be interesting to compare the demographics of how many people turn out.” Cr Davy said eligible voters would still receive mailed candidate information, and would have time to vote early if they were unable to attend on the day. Cr MacCarthy said it wasn’t her preferred option, and shared concerns about the unknown costs and how the shire would ensure everyone made it to the polls. She said councillors would need to work their hardest to communicate the change to voters. “It’s up to us to engage with people to say ‘this is the change, it’s going to be different this election’,” she said. “We’re supposed to be representing the interests of our community, so we need to do our darndest to get out there and make it known.” The recommendation approved the unbudgeted expenditure of $32,000 (GST-exclusive) to conduct the election. The motion was carried 6-2 with Crs Davy, Patrick, Lindemann, Amanda McNab, John Bailey and Alex Purich voting for it, while Crs Tyler Hall and MacCarthy voted against it.