THE Victorian Electoral Commission has issued a statement to reassure residents that it does not distribute contact details to candidates.
Electoral commissioner Warwick Gately said “some voters in the current local council elections have become concerned upon receiving text messages from local council candidates in their campaigning.”
“I understand voters in a small number of wards have received text messages on behalf of candidates for local council elections. The messages were not sent using enrolment information available to them through the VEC,” he said.
“Upon being contacted by voters about the origin of the contact details, some council candidates mistakenly stated that they were provided by the VEC. I can definitively state that the VEC does not provide voter mobile phone number or email address details to candidates or political parties. If anyone is concerned, they should take it up directly with the candidate or the person who authorised the message.”