A former Melbourne councilor accused of stealing and falsifying votes in local elections is on trial.
Milad El-Halabi was elected in October 2020 to the North West Ward of Moreland City Council – now Merri-bek City Council.
Milad El-Halabi out of court on MondayCredit:Jason South
But police allege El-Halabi, his wife Dianna, 52, and daughter Tania, 26, stole, forged and tampered with ballots in the run-up to the election.
After a two-day hearing, magistrate Stephen Ballek determined on Tuesday that there was sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial.
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The trio, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, were released on bail ahead of a hearing in Melbourne County Court next month.
The court was told that 83 suspect ballots had been submitted to the Victorian Electoral Commission as part of the 2020 Moreland council election.
The police claimed that the DNA of the three suspects was found on some ballots.
There, the court also heard allegations that a resident of the city’s northwestern district saw a “male person” in a skirt knocking on the door and checking mailboxes for voting packages in the run-up to the election.
