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. Yarriambiack has three wards, each electing two councillors; you vote only in your own ward.
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. The council's elections page also says the next election is in October 2028.
- Last general election
- October 2024 — no vote was neededIn all three wards the number of candidates equalled the number of vacancies, so the VEC declared the candidates elected unopposed: Melinda Keel and Corinne Heintze (Dunmunkle), Andrew McLean and Chris K. Lehmann (Hopetoun), Karly Kirk and Kylie Zanker (Warracknabeal). VEC's results page was last updated on 22 November 2024.
- Ward structure
- 3 wards × 2 councillorsSet by a 2023–24 electoral structure review, which changed the council's structure; first used at the 2024 election.
- Changes since 2024
- None foundVEC's council page lists the same six councillors elected in 2024, and its by-elections and countbacks timeline lists none for Yarriambiack (checked September 2026). In wards with two councillors, a vacancy is normally filled by a countback of the votes from the last election rather than a by-election.
- Who can vote
- Residents on the state roll, plus ratepayers who applyProperty owners and occupiers who pay rates but aren't state-enrolled in the Shire can apply to the council to join the council roll — once on it, they must vote.
- Voting
- Compulsory for everyone enrolledNot voting can result in a fine.
- Enrol / check enrolment
- Victorian Electoral CommissionCheck my enrolment →
Sources — check it yourself
- Victorian Electoral Commission — 2024 Yarriambiack Shire Council election results · 22 Nov 2024
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Yarriambiack Shire Council (structure, current councillors, past results) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Council by-elections and countbacks timeline · Sep 2026
- Yarriambiack Shire Council — Council Elections and Electoral Structure Reviews · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Local council elections (postal voting, compulsory) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Enrolling for local council elections (ratepayer enrolment) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Report to Parliament on the 2024 local government elections (PDF; election timing p.20) · Oct 2025
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.