A former Melbourne councillor was unduly elected in local polls affected by ballot tampering in 2020, a tribunal has found.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal made the finding about Milad El-Halabi over his election to the northwest ward of Merri-bek City Council, then called Moreland City Council, as part of an inquiry into the election.
Final orders by the tribunal gave effect to its judgment, in which it contended El-Halabi benefited from ballot tampering during the postal vote for the ward, the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) said.
The tribunal also asserted the election of three other councillors to the ward was unaffected by the inclusion of fraudulent ballots, the commission said.
"While the proceeding's outcome does not change the current council, it is worth noting that had Mr El-Halabi not already resigned from his position, the effect of this decision would be to remove him as a councillor," Acting Electoral Commissioner Dana Fleming said.
"What this matter has demonstrated is that the VEC's processes to protect democracy and electoral integrity work.
"However, we won't be complacent, and we will work closely with Victoria's local government sector, the relevant law enforcement agencies, and Australia Post to prevent this from occurring again."
The commission's systems and staff in October 2020 detected some votes were tampered with in the ward's postal election, but the commission was legally required to declare the election's result.
The commission immediately alerted Victoria Police and, within an hour of the election result being declared, alerted the tribunal to prompt an inquiry into the election's validity, Ms Fleming said.
She was confident the current councillors in the ward reflected the will of voters, she said.
The commission will make recommendations about the efficacy of the system to review elections, which was previously the responsibility of the Municipal Electoral Tribunal.
El-Halabi has been committed to stand trial in Melbourne over election fraud allegations.
