Nominations for the Northern Grampians council area's South West Ward by-election have opened as of Thursday.
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The ward, which is represented by one councillor, received no nominees during the recent 2020 Local Government Election nomination period
The nomination period will close on Wednesday, October 28, with the by-election to take place on November 28.
VEC spokeswoman Ruth Murphy said: "If anyone is on the fence - if you've been contemplating running - this is a great opportunity to have your say on local councils."
Before nominating, potential candidates must complete a one-hour mandatory candidate training module, and schedule an appointment with their local election manager to lodge their nomination.
The council's other three wards saw the same number of nominations as there are vacant positions at this election, six in total. This means all six nominees will be elected unopposed to the new council.
Councils with uncontested elections like the Northern Grampians Shire will start to receive their results from Saturday, October 24.
All declaration ceremonies are set to be completed by November 13. Ms Murphy said the VEC's counting process had been slowed down due to the coronavirus pandemic "and the need for additional distancing in election offices".
Ms Murphy said election offices will be open until 8pm on Thursday and Friday. Voting is compulsory, and the penalty for not doing so is a fine of $83.
"We might not receive votes up until Friday the 30th of October," she said. "We will continue to receive postal ballots next week and smaller councils should know their results fairly quickly from November 2."
Results will be published on the VEC website as they become available at vec.vic.gov.au.
It comes as just over half of all registered local voters in Victoria had returned their ballots with two days to go before the close of voting at 6pm on Friday.
VEC data shows that in Ararat, 59.81 per cent of residents had returned their postal ballots. In Horsham, the latest figure is 67.81 per cent, Hindmarsh 63.51 per cent, West Wimmera 58 per cent and Yarriambiack 62.37 per cent.
Ms Murphy said the statewide return rate was 57 per cent, higher than at the same point in the 2016 election period which was a mix of postal and booth voting.
"We are expecting a return rate of 75 per cent by the end of the voting period," she said.
"Postal votes also had a higher return rate than votes cast in voting booth in 2016."
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Alexander Darling
Alexander has been a member of the Wimmera Mail-Times' editorial team since December 2018, covering politics, business and property among other rounds. He is a passionate St.Kilda and rock and roll fan, and has previously worked as a radio reporter in Port Macquarie and Gosford, NSW.
Alexander has been a member of the Wimmera Mail-Times' editorial team since December 2018, covering politics, business and property among other rounds. He is a passionate St.Kilda and rock and roll fan, and has previously worked as a radio reporter in Port Macquarie and Gosford, NSW.
