A by-election for the seat of Polwarth in the Victorian Legislative Assembly was held on 31 October 2015. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Terry Mulder on 3 September 2015. Former Premier of Victoria, Denis Napthine, resigned his seat representing the adjacent district of South-West Coast on the same day as Mulder. The by-election for South-West Coast was held on the same day.
Candidates 8 candidates in ballot paper order Party CandidateBackground Greens Joe Miles Welfare officer & disability support, anti-fracking organiser in Victoria's South West & Barwon region. Democratic Labour Carmel Kavanagh Leads a charity providing refugee advocacy, housing and resettlement assistance.2015 Polwarth by-election: ABC Country Melinda Cass Farmer from Cressy. National David O'Brien Former member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Western Victoria Region. Independent Brendan Eckel A Ballarat-based psychiatric nurse. Sex Party Meredith Doig Company director and management consultant. Member of the university council for Federation University Australia. President of the Rationalist Society of Australia. Liberal Richard Riordan Colac businessman, owner of Riordan Colac Hire, board member of the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, former chairman of Colac Area Health board. Christians Geoff Rogers Candidate for federal seat of Lalor at the 2013 federal election.
The Labor government did not contest the by-elections in the safe Liberal seats of Polwarth and South-West Coast.
How-to-vote cards Candidate volunteers attempt to distribute how-to-vote cards to voters at polling booths which show the candidate's suggested preference allocation. Candidates and parties which suggested preferences are shown in each column of the table below. The Australian Sex Party ran an open card at this by-election. Greens DLP Country National Eckel Sex Liberal ChristiansGreens1888No card67DLP713452Country641735National457123Eckel532676Sex2745188Liberal366214Christians825341
Result
|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! colspan="6" style="text-align:left;" |After distribution of preferences
The VEC distributed preliminary preferences until a candidate exceeded 50 per cent of the vote, in this case Liberal candidate Richard Riordan.2015 Polwarth by-election commentary, ABC.
See also 2015 South-West Coast state by-election List of Victorian state by-elections
References
External links Victorian Electoral Commission: Polwarth District by-election ABC Elections: 2015 Polwarth by-election