Tasmania

In Tasmania, local government elections are held in October every four years. Please check the Tasmanian Electoral Commission (TEC) website for more details on your council. 

You do not have to be a citizen to enrol in council elections in Tasmania!

If you are not a citizen, you are still eligible to be on the local government roll if:

• you own or occupy land in a municipal area different from where you are enrolled on the state electoral roll, or
• you are the nominated representative of a corporate body which owns or occupies land in the municipal area.

To enrol under these special terms, you need to complete the appropriate enrolment form and return it to the General Manager of the relevant council before the close of rolls for an election:

• Local Government enrolment form for owner/occupiers, or
• Local Government enrolment form for corporate bodies 

Find your local council area  

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

Who are you voting for?

You vote by postal ballot for local government elections in Tasmania.

You will be voting for your representatives in local government, your councillors, and the leadership of local government, the mayor and deputy mayor.

Each council consists of between 7 and 12 councillors. Each council is chaired by a mayor and has a deputy mayor.

How to vote

As elections are by mail, there is a 'polling period' rather than one election day. If you are enrolled, you will receive a postal ballot pack at your postal address.

The postal ballot pack contains:

• ballot papers.
• a booklet containing candidate statements and voting instructions.
• a ballot paper envelope (this envelope must be signed by the elector to ensure ballot security).
• a reply-paid envelope for returning your ballot paper envelope which contains your completed ballot paper (voting won’t even cost a stamp).

You then have around 3 weeks to complete and post your vote back to the returning officer for your council.

To vote, you must:

• mark your preferences on each ballot paper.
• place the completed ballot paper in the ballot paper envelope (the envelope that has the elector’s name printed on it) and seal it.
• sign the ballot paper envelope in the box next to your name.
• place the ballot paper envelope in the reply-paid envelope and seal it.
• put the reply-paid envelope in the post (no stamp required) so that it reaches the returning officer before the close of polling.