COUNCILLORS have condemned damage to election material after doorbell camera footage emerged of what appears to be an elderly man ripping Lake Macquarie Labor candidate Adam Shultz' corflute off a fence.
The video, taken in August about 4pm, appears to show the man pulling up in his car and muttering to himself as he forcibly rips the corflute from a white picket fence on private property.
The elderly man then appears to fold the corflute up before putting it in his car and driving off.
Lake Macquarie Labor mayoral candidate and councillor Adam Shultz said he has made a police report in relation to the incident.
"This type of behaviour is unacceptable and has no place in Lake Macquarie," he said.
"I feel a bit of frustration, this isn't at 4am, this is at 4pm, if this person is ranting to themselves and ripping down signage, who is to say what they could do at a polling location?
"That's just not normal behaviour and it's why you have to call it out."
Cr Shultz said he did not want to see such behaviour at pre-poll or on election day, and asked that people respect the democratic process.
"You don't have to vote Labor, Liberal, Independent or Greens but you can't go around ripping down signage, taking it and knocking it off," he said.
The NSW Electoral Commission regulates the display of posters during election time.
Posters have to comply with requirements about content and placement, they cannot include incorrect or misleading information about voting and have to include the name and address of the person authorising the material.
Election material, particularly posters, are not allowed on certain premises or within six metres of venues where people vote.
Those premises include Crown or NSW Government agency buildings, council buildings or other premises they do not own without permission.
Lake Macquarie Liberal candidate and councillor Jason Pauling said damage to election material is "totally inappropriate".
"I cannot condemn this enough, in recent years we have had a truce in terms of one another's corflutes, historically this has been an issue," he said.
"It's almost like an attack on democracy and an attack on political expression to deface corflutes, and in that regard I cannot condemn it strongly enough."
A Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure spokesman said election signage must meet certain standards to quality as an exempt development without development approval.
He said residents and candidates are permitted to display election material on private property.
Signs must not be larger than 0.8m2, except in rural zones where they can be a maximum of 3.75m2.
Election signs can only be displayed eight weeks before the election day and for one week after election day.
The Newcastle Herald has contacted NSW Police for comment.
Ausgrid recently released a statement asking all NSW local government election candidates and political parties not to attach campaign materials to power poles or electrical assets.
Ausgrid Safety Delivery and Operations group executive Sam Sofi said attaching posters to power poles poses a considerable risk and can lead to substantial costs for repairs and removal.
"It is dangerous for those doing it, against the law, and can cost tens of thousands of dollars to remove and repair any damage," Mr Sofi said.
"Taking down the posters also diverts our crews from essential maintenance across the network, impacting other customers.
"We understand the enthusiasm that comes with election campaigns, but we cannot compromise the safety of our network or the public."
Ausgrid has said it will remove and dispose of any election material attached to its poles and will take steps to recover costs from candidates in breach of the law.
