At least 70 supporters of Labor councillor Hicham Zraika have been knocked out of the controversial preselection ballot for the state seat of Auburn after allegations of branch stacking were levelled against him.
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The ballot will proceed despite a decision to delay counting the votes of hundreds more of Cr Zraika's supporters in the Regents Park and Newington branches after they were challenged by the sitting MP Barbara Perry.
The ballot, due to be held on Saturday, exploded into acrimony after Ms Perry charged Cr Zraika with branch stacking offences under party rules amid revelations in Fairfax Media of membership irregularities in Regents Park and Newington.
The ALP's Independent Appeals Tribunal (IAT) dismissed the charges against Cr Zraika but Ms Perry has appealed the finding to the party's more powerful Review Tribunal, headed by former Supreme Court judge Greg James, QC.
The Review Tribunal will also decide Ms Perry's challenge to every member of the Regents Park and Newington branch. A hearing for both matters is set down for December 23.
It means if Cr Zraika wins the ballot on Saturday he still faces suspension or expulsion from the party should the review tribunal uphold the charges against him, which he denies.
The decision to proceed with the ballot before the hearing has incensed some ALP members, who question whether they have been given the required seven days' notice.
Questions are also being raised about why the venue for the ballot was initially announced as Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club but then suddenly shifted to Auburn Town Hall.
Meanwhile, NSW Labor general secretary Jamie Clements will take the extraordinary step of abolishing the Mount Keira branch in the Illawarra and ensuring it can never be reformed.
The move follows a recommendation by the IAT which examined irregularities raised by Fairfax Media before the equally contentious Wollongong preselection of sitting MP Noreen Hay.
The revelations included that the minutes of the April 7 meeting recorded discussion about the resignation of NSW premier Barry O'Farrell - eight days before it actually happened on April 15.
Mr Clements will use special powers granted to him by the administrative committee to remove the "charter" of the Mt Keira branch. This means it is abolished and can never exist again.
However, the move will not affect Ms Hay's preselection.
