THE Labor Party has lodged an 11th hour appeal to the Supreme Court of Victoria on Tuesday, disputing the outcome of the State Election in the seat of Ripon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Labor had until close of business on January 24 to lodge the appeal to the the Supreme Court, which acts as Victoria’s Court of Disputed Returns.
After the votes were counted three times, Liberal incumbent Louise Staley was declared the winner ahead of Labor candidate Sarah De Santis by just 15 votes.
Once the Court of Disputed Returns makes its decision, there are no further options to appeal.
The matter has not yet been listed for hearing, and no timeline has been confirmed for the result.
This is the second time a party has disputed the election result.
Ms De Santis was initially declared the new Ripon member by 31 votes after preference distributions.
Ms Staley requested a recount which ultimately put her in the seat by an even slimmer lead of 15 votes.
A Victorian Electoral Commission spokesman said at the time that a second recount was not possible and if Labor wanted to challenge the result, lodging an appeal was the only option.
A Labor Party spokesman said he was unable to comment because the matter was before the courts.
Ms Staley declined to comment, though she previously said that the appeal was out of her control and she will remain focused on her roles as member for Ripon and as opposition treasurer.
Read more:
While you’re with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox each Friday morning from The Ararat Advertiser. To make sure you’re up-to-date with all the news from Ararat and districts, sign up here.
