Elections & voting
Victorian council elections are held every four years, and all voting is by post. The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) mails a ballot pack to every enrolled voter. Voting is compulsory for people on the roll, and you may be fined if you don't vote. Colac Otway has no wards: voters across the whole shire elect all 7 councillors, counted by proportional representation.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- Ward
- A subdivision of a council area that elects its own councillors.
- How the mayor is chosen
- Either elected directly by voters, or chosen by the councillors.
Election facts
- Next general election
- Saturday 28 October 2028General elections fall on the fourth Saturday in October every 4 years, unless there are exceptional circumstances (VEC Report to Parliament, Oct 2025, p.20).
- Last general election
- Saturday 26 October 202418 candidates stood for 7 seats. Enrolment 17,536; turnout 84.83%; 6.95% of votes were informal. Results finalised by the VEC in November 2024.
- How you vote
- By post — ballot packs are mailed to enrolled voters
- How Colac Otway votes
- Unsubdivided: 7 councillors elected shire-wide; proportional representationThe Mayor is chosen by the councillors, not by voters.Council map (VEC) →
- If a seat falls vacant
- CountbackIn an unsubdivided council, a vacancy is normally filled by a countback of the votes from the last election, run by the VEC. The VEC lists none for Colac Otway since 2024; the last two were in January and March 2023, in the previous term.Countbacks and by-elections →
- Enrol / check enrolment
- Victorian Electoral CommissionProperty owners and occupiers who aren't on the state roll for the municipality may be able to enrol as council voters; the VEC explains how.Check enrolment →
| Order elected | Candidate | First-preference votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jason Schram | 2,188 | 15.81% |
| 2nd | Chris Potter | 1,613 | 11.65% |
| 3rd | Zoe Hudgell | 1,280 | 9.25% |
| 4th | Phil Howard | 1,033 | 7.46% |
| 5th | Charlie Buchanan | 1,000 | 7.22% |
| 6th | Mick McCrickard | 1,051 | 7.59% |
| 7th | Chrissy De Deugd | 780 | 5.64% |
2024 Colac Otway Shire Council election: the 7 candidates elected, in the order the VEC declared them, with their first-preference votes (13,842 formal votes, quota 1,731). Source: Victorian Electoral Commission, 2024 results (finalised). The full count, including unsuccessful candidates, is on the VEC page.
Order of election depends on the full distribution of preferences, not only first preferences.
Sources — check it yourself
- Victorian Electoral Commission — 2024 Colac Otway Shire Council election results · Nov 2024
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Colac Otway Shire Council (electoral structure, past results) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Local council elections (postal voting, compulsory voting) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Report to Parliament on the 2024 local government elections (PDF, p.20) · Oct 2025
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Council countbacks and by-elections · Sep 2026
- Colac Otway Shire — Local Government Elections · Sep 2026
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.