Elections & voting
Victorian council elections are held every four years on the fourth Saturday of October and are conducted entirely by post by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC). Voting is compulsory for everyone on the roll. West Wimmera Shire is unsubdivided: every voter in the Shire votes for all five councillors, elected 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 2028All-postal: ballot packs are mailed to every enrolled voter, and there are no voting centres. The council's Mayor and Councillors page says the current councillors were declared elected until October 2028.
- Last general election
- October 2024Results declared on 7 November 2024 at the Edenhope and District Community Centre; VEC's results page was last updated on 22 November 2024.
- 2024 result
- Six candidates for five seatsElected in order: Helen Hobbs, Tim Meyer, Jodie Pretlove, Richard William Hicks and Tom Houlihan. First preferences: Hobbs 664 (26.16%), Tim Meyer 547 (21.55%), Pretlove 535 (21.08%), Houlihan 312 (12.29%), Hicks 295 (11.62%), Bruce H. Meyer 185 (7.29%, not elected). Quota 424.
- Turnout
- 85.68% of enrolmentEnrolment 3,017; formal votes 2,538; informal 47 (1.82%); total votes 2,585.
- Changes since 2024
- None foundVEC's council page lists the same five councillors elected in 2024, and its by-elections and countbacks timeline shows no West Wimmera entry since the election (checked September 2026). Because the Shire is unsubdivided, a vacancy would normally be filled by a countback of the 2024 votes — as happened in October 2023, in the previous term.
- Who can vote
- Residents on the state roll, plus ratepayers who applyProperty owners, occupiers and corporation representatives who pay rates but aren't state-enrolled in the Shire can apply to join the council roll — once on it, they must vote. At most two owners or two occupiers can enrol for one property.
- Voting
- Compulsory for everyone enrolledFull preferential: number every box. Not voting can result in a fine.
- Enrol / check enrolment
- Victorian Electoral CommissionCheck my enrolment →
Sources — check it yourself
- Victorian Electoral Commission — 2024 West Wimmera Shire Council election results · 22 Nov 2024
- Victorian Electoral Commission — West Wimmera Shire Council (structure, current councillors, past results) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Council by-elections and countbacks timeline · Sep 2026
- West Wimmera Shire Council — Local Government Elections (postal voting, enrolment) · Sep 2026
- West Wimmera Shire Council — Mayor and Councillors (declaration of results) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Enrolling for local council elections (ratepayer enrolment) · 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.