The NSW Electoral Commission has started sending out postal vote packs for next month's council elections as the Liberal party considers whether to take legal action over its nomination debacle.
Meahwhile those Liberal candidates left unelectable after the paperwork stuff-up are considering legal action of their own over the lost chance to earn years of wages.
Sitting Liberal councillors considering suing the party over a statewide election bungle are holding fire while the NSW branch mulls unprecedented action against electoral officials.
The NSW Liberal Party has been in crisis mode since it failed to submit nomination forms for one-in-three endorsed candidates for upcoming local government elections.
Maitland councillor Ben Mitchell, one of about 140 candidates the party failed to nominate before last Wednesday's deadline, described the Liberal leadership's threat of legal action against the electoral commission as "an act of desperation".
The NSWEC said in a statement on Sunday night that it would not grant the Liberals an extension of the nomination deadline until Wednesday.
"On the basis of the available information, the Commissioner was not satisfied that it is possible to lawfully extend the nomination period in line with the request and, even if it were, it would not be appropriate to do so given the very significant ramifications it would have for the conduct of the elections," the NSWEC statement said.
The commission accepted it had published a formal election notice on its website five days before the nomination deadline, instead of seven, but said it had widely publicised the closing date since October and "communicated this information directly to parties and candidates on numerous occasions since May 2024".
The Liberals' NSW division said on Sunday that it would be left with "no other option but to pursue legal avenues" if the NSWEC did not agree to extend the nomination deadline.
Some affected candidates were in contact with lawyer and former mayor George Newhouse about a possible class action.
"The candidates have lost their application fees and the chance of earning their councillor fees for four years," Mr Newhouse said yesterday.
"Many of the people we have spoken to have made donations and paid for campaign materials."
Mr Newhouse, who ran as Labor's challenger in Malcolm Turnbull's federal seat in 2007, said launching the class action could depend on the outcome of the NSW Liberals' own mooted legal action.
Yesterday, Liberal officials were still considering what legal avenues were available to get candidates on the ballots.
Any case would need to be heard and decided within days, with the electoral commission moving ahead with its scheduled timetable for the September 14 poll, including publishing ballot draws on its website and sending ballots to registered postal voters.
Commissioner Dr Matthew Phillips said on Sunday that the election period was "now in full swing with ballot paper production under way".
The Liberal party's failure to lodge nominations cost state director Richard Shields his job and has left candidates devastated.
In the Hunter, all four of the party's sitting Cessnock councillors will not be able to contest the election, along with ward three Newcastle candidate Matt Bailey, Cr Mitchell and Maitland candidate Michael Cooper.
Cessnock councillor Paul Dunn said he was focusing on "getting the money returned to my candidates that they put in to self-fund our campaign".
"Regardless of the party position, we missed a cut-off that every other candidate made and we are not there to contest the election," he said.
