She and her partner had moved to Bendigo from Queensland in June. 

It wasn’t until their ballot papers arrived in the mail, five days after the due date for postal votes, that they realised there had been a local council election in the City of Greater Bendigo. 

Ms Waldron said she called the Victorian Electoral Commission to seek advice, and was told to call the City of Greater Bendigo, given they had issued the ballots.

“The response I got from the lady I spoke to [at council] was, ‘You can still send them in but they won’t be counted because they are late’,” she said.

“I decided I would do the right thing and send them in anyway.”

The apparent failure to vote notices were in her letter box on Friday morning. 

Ms Waldron said she was aware many others had received the same notice and said it was unfair that voters had to defend themselves when they had not been at fault.

“It's not a joke, threatening to fine people when they have done nothing wrong,” she said. 

A total of 65,055 votes were received in the Greater Bendigo City Council elections, according to the VEC. 

“Of the 22,622 enrolled voters who did not vote, 11,022 were sent apparent failure to vote notices,” a spokesperson said. 

Recipients have 28 days to respond with an explanation about why they appear not to have voted.

“Where a sufficient reason is provided, the voter will be excused and no further correspondence will be sent,” the spokesperson said.

The apparent failure to vote notice is the first step of a four-step compulsory voting enforcement program for local council elections.

The process is being managed entirely by the VEC for the first time.

The spokesperson said there might be some instances when a voter had returned their ballot, but it was not dated before the close of voting at 6pm on October 21. 

“While some voters may have contacted the VEC to discuss reasons for not voting before notices were issued, people still have to wait for the apparent failure to vote notice and respond by completing the form with their official explanation,” they said.

Voting in council elections is compulsory for Victorians on the state electoral roll.

“Notices will not be sent to those who are automatically exempt from voting, such as council-enrolled voters and those aged 70 years or over,” the VEC stated.

The spokesperson advised people to call 1300 551 575 for clarification about their specific circumstances.