Queensland

In Queensland, local government elections are held on the last Saturday of March every four years. Please check the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) website for more details on your council.

Find your local council area

You can find your local government area here by entering your address. 

Who are you voting for?

For your local government, you vote for one or more of the councillors who will represent you and the leader of your council, the mayor, in separate votes held at the same time.

There are two main types of local government in Queensland:

• Divided council: where a local government has internal boundaries known as divisions or wards and voters elect a councillor to represent their division.
• Undivided council: voters elect all the councillors for their local government area.

These two types will affect how the voting process works.

How to vote

Elections in Queensland come in two types depending on your local government. One is first-past-the-post voting and the other is optional preferential. You can check your local government by contacting the ECQ.

First-past-the-post voting

In a local government election for an undivided council or multi-member divided council, you'll vote for your councillors using the first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system. You'll mark the box next to the required number of candidates of your choice.

For example, if four candidates are to be elected to council, voters must mark four boxes on the ballot paper.

Optional preferential voting

In a local government election for a single member divided council, and when voting for the mayor in all councils, you have the choice to vote for one, some or all candidates on the ballot paper; this is optional preferential voting (OPV).

OPV is the voting system used in Queensland to elect:

Mayors in local government elections

Councillors in local governments where single-member wards or divisions exist (single-member divided councils).

Vote one

Vote for only one candidate by placing a one (1), tick or cross in the square opposite the name of your preferred candidate.

Vote for some or all

Vote for some or all by placing a one (1) in the box of your preferred candidate. You can then number some or all of remaining boxes in order of your preference according to the instructions on the ballot paper.