New South Wales

In NSW, local government elections are held on the second Saturday of September every four years. Please check the NSW Electoral Commission website for more details on your council.

Find your local council area

You can find your local government area here by entering your address. It will display as your council.

Who are you voting for?

Councillor elections

This is where you choose who will represent you in local government.

Local governments in NSW can be two types:

• Undivided: where all councillors are elected by all voters in that area
• Divided: where the council is divided into smaller regions called wards, from which an equal number of councillors are elected for each ward.

The number of councillors varies between different local governments.

Mayoral elections

This is how the leader of the local government gets selected.

The mayor is elected in two different ways:

• Mayors elected directly by voters separately and in addition to elected councillors for four-year term.
• Mayors elected by councillors after the local government elections for a two-year term.

How to Vote

The paper you use to vote will look different according to your local government. Your local government may have candidates grouped by political party or not grouped. Sometimes group ballots have voting squares, which is like voting above the line in Federal and state elections.

Remember

• That it is okay to make a mistake, just ask an electoral official to get a new ballot paper.
• Your vote is anonymous and secret once it is cast. It is your choice to tell people how you voted or not.

Voting on ballot papers with no groups

Here is an example ballot with no groups:

You will see a list of candidate names in a random order. If they are a member of a political party, their political party will be displayed below their name.

Put a 1 on your first preference candidate and then continue numbering 2, 3 and son on as explained on your ballot paper. You will have to number half the candidates and then it is your choice to continue numbering candidates after that.

For example, if there are four candidates, you must number at least two candidates.

Grouped candidates

Here is an example ballot with groups and no voting squares:

This works the same way as the ballot paper with no groups, but political party members may be placed in the same column as each other.

Group candidates with voting squares

Here is an example ballot with groups and voting squares:

You will see your paper is divided in two by a thick line with group vote squares above the line and candidate line below it.

You can vote above the line or below the line but not both.

Above the line 

Put a number ‘1’ in one of the group voting squares above the thick line on the ballot paper.

By doing this you are voting for that whole group of candidates in the order they are listed below that square, starting from the top.

This is all you need to do. You can keep numbering if you want, starting with putting number 2 above the line.

If you vote above the line, do not put numbers in any squares below the line.

Below the line

Vote below the line if:

• you want to vote for candidates within a group in the order of your choice.
• you want to vote for candidates from different groups in the order of your choice.
• you want to vote for ungrouped candidates in the order of your choice.
• you want to vote for a mixture of grouped and ungrouped candidates.

To vote, you must place at least the number of preferences indicated in the ‘Directions for Voting’ on the ballot paper. This will be at least half the number to be elected.

For example:

• if there are three to be elected, you must vote for at least two candidates.
• if there are nine to be elected, you must vote for at least five candidates.

You may then continue to number more candidates if you wish.

Your first preference is indicated by placing a ‘1’ in the square next to the candidate of your choice, your second preference a ‘2’, your third preference a ‘3’, and so on.

If you vote below the line, do not put numbers in any squares above the line.