PUP candidate loses court bid

Palmer United Party candidate Maria Rigoni has lost her Supreme Court bid to void the Victorian state election outcome.

Unsuccessful PUP candidate Maria Rigoni

A failed PUP candidate's bid to void the Victorian election will be decided in a Melbourne court. (AAP)

An unsuccessful Palmer United Party candidate has lost her bid to have results in the Victorian state election result declared void.

Maria Rigoni claimed she was unfairly denied the right to influence the decisions of pre-poll voters.

Her barrister, Anton Trichardt, had argued almost 900,000 votes cast at early voting centres breached the electoral act because voters failed to make a declaration that they were unable to vote on election day.

Justice Gregory Garde dismissed the petition in the Victorian Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Justice Garde found there had been instances where voters were not asked to make a declaration about their inability to vote on election day.

But he said it would be a significant decision to disenfranchise a voter who was otherwise unable to vote on the basis of the misunderstanding or oversight of an election officer.

"Particularly given that the voter was entitled to vote and had properly voted apart from the early voting declaration," he said in his judgment.

Justice Garde said had the officer asked for a declaration one would "most likely" have been given.


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Source: AAP


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