Welcome from Sven Bluemmel
Welcome to Selections, our yearly eNewsletter of key insights from our annual report.
As I reflect on my first year in office, I can confidently say the work of the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) doesn't stop 'in between' elections. We continue to deliver a remarkable breadth of services between major election events and, even before one event is complete, detailed planning for the next one is already under way. In 2023-24, these activities included our ongoing work:
- supporting enrolment and education
- conducting by-elections and countbacks
- managing council electoral reviews
- registering political parties
- administering Victoria's political funding and disclosure regime
- regulating compliance with Victoria's Electoral Act 2002 (Electoral Act).
Early in 2023-24 we launched Strategy 2027, which sets 4 strategic themes:
- building public trust
- improving the voter experience
- adapting to our changing environment
- ensuring our people are engaged and supported.
We undertook an organisational restructure to align with our strategy and will fully embed this over the next year.
Preparing for the October 2024 local council elections, we enhanced our training, instructional products, and program management processes. We focused on using technology to improve efficiency; for example, we redesigned ballot materials to save nearly $100,000, reduce paper use, and cut ballot production time by over 30 hours.
We also completed Victoria's largest local council electoral review program, covering 39 electoral structure reviews and 10 ward boundary reviews. Our team analysed over 900 public submissions and issued detailed reports on each review to the Minister for Local Government.
During the 2022 state election, several incidents risked the safety of election staff, including threats of violence and harassment. We responded by strengthening our 'Safe@work' program and developing a harm-minimisation framework to safeguard our employees in future elections.
Looking ahead, we must acknowledge threats to our democracy. Misinformation campaigns powered by social media and artificial intelligence can destabilise even the strongest democracies. The Electoral Act was written in 2002, before widespread internet use, and our society has changed significantly since then. We have also seen a dramatic increase in registered voters, political parties, and candidates, adding strain to our processes.
To address these evolving challenges, we recommend a comprehensive review of the Electoral Act. This decision rests with the Government. In the meantime, we will continue to adapt our systems within the existing framework to protect the integrity of our electoral processes.
I extend my sincere gratitude to everyone at the VEC for their exceptional work over the past year. We look forward to continuing this important work in 2024–25 and beyond, ensuring every Victorian can participate in our democracy.