Council Elections

How to vote under the Optional Preferential Voting System

Voting has changed from the ‘first past the post’ system to optional preferential voting – the same method used in State and Federal elections. Optional preferential voting means you are not required to provide all preferences in casting your vote.

Optional preferential voting means that to be elected you need to either achieve a majority of votes in the count for a single vacancy or a quota of votes where there is more than one vacancy to be filled. As a result, the candidates elected are more representative of the majority of voters. Under the current first-past-the-post voting system candidates have been elected with as little as 4.71% of the vote. Councils will be more representative of the majority of voters with greater opportunities for a diversity of representation and views on council.

The process of the election will remain the same, the key difference being how you complete your vote on your ballot paper, instead of ticking a box or boxes, you will number a box or boxes.

DLGSC has provided the following infographic and video to assist the new voting system:

Election of Shire President

Local governments that are classified as a band 1 or 2 (larger local governments) under the current determination of the Salaries and Allowances Tribunal will be required to elect the mayor or president by a vote of the electors, rather than by the council. 

This means that electors will vote for the set number of councillor positions plus separately vote for one Shire President.

• 2023 Local Government Election – reduce from 13 to 11 Elected Members.
• 2025 Local Government Election – reduce from 11 to nine Elected Members.

The flowchart below illustrates how the reduction of Elected Members will occur over the next two Ordinary Local Government Elections:

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The Shire of Harvey recognises that a ‘one size fits all’ approach does not effectively meet the challenges of providing services to geographically and socially distant communities. To address this, the Shire introduced Local Area Planning as a strategy to help it plan for future growth and community service provision at the local level. This approach ensures that the infrastructure and services provided are able to be tailored to meet the differing requirements of the community.

Local Area Planning involves local community members working together with Council to identify goals and issues specific to their community. Place Advisory Groups have been established for each district that are made up of local community members, Shire staff and Councillors. Meetings are held quarterly and provide the forum for an exchange of information and decision-making on local issues by community representatives and the Shire.

Place Advisory Groups have enhanced engagement with each community without the need for a ward system which was previously abolished. Reasons against the ward system include:

• Councillors can become too focused on their wards and less focused on the affairs of other wards and the whole local government,
• An unhealthy competition for resources can develop where electors in each ward come to expect the services and facilities provided in other wards, whether they are appropriate or not,
• Ward boundaries may appear to be placed arbitrarily and not reflect the social interaction and communities of interest of the community,
• Balanced representation across the local government may be difficult to achieve if a local government has highly populated urban areas and sparsely populated rural areas,
• The election process is more complex for the community to understand and for Council to administer.

Through Local Area Planning, six broader districts have been identified – Australind, Coastal, Harvey, Leschenault, Rural North and Rural South.

Types of Voters

Residents

People who are already enrolled as electors on the State Electoral Roll for their residential address, are automatically enrolled on the Resident Roll for Local Government Elections and will not need to make a claim for enrolment.

If you are a resident of the Shire and not already enrolled to vote at your residence, you must make a claim for enrolment with the State Electoral Commission.

If you are a non-resident and are not on the State Electoral Role: 

Non-Resident Owners 

Non-resident owners are eligible to be enrolled to vote in a Local Government Election if they meet the following criteria:

1. Enrolled as an elector on the State or Commonwealth Roll for a residence outside the Shire; and
2. Own or occupy rateable property within the Shire; and
3. Complete an Enrolment Eligibility Claim Form and have it accepted by the Shire for future elections.

What is the Owner / Occupier Roll?

The owner /occupier roll is an electoral roll for local government elections where people who own or occupy property within a local government district and are enrolled to vote at another address, can apply to their local government to be included on the roll as an owner /occupier.

Enrolment on the owner /occupier roll allows a person who is enrolled to vote at one address, and owns or occupies property at a different address, to a vote in both areas.

It also allows non-resident co-owners and occupiers who are enrolled to vote at another address, or a body corporate, to apply to nominate up to two eligible electors to be included on the owner /occupier roll.

Eligibility for Owner / Occupier Roll

People who own or occupy property within the Shire of Harvey can apply to be included on the roll as an owner /occupier, as long as they are eligible electors.

An eligible elector is someone who is currently on the State or Commonwealth Electoral Roll, or who qualifies under clause 12 of Schedule 9.3 to the Local Government Act 1995.

To qualify under clause 12 the elector must:

• own or occupy rateable property in the electorate;
• have been on the last electoral roll prepared under the Local Government  (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1960  for that electorate; and
• have owned or occupied rateable property in the electorate since that roll was prepared.

Occupiers

Occupiers of rateable land in the Shire that are not on the Resident’s Roll are eligible to vote in local government elections however they will need to complete an Enrolment Eligibility Claim Form and have it accepted by the Shire, and have a right of continuous occupation under lease, tenancy agreement or other legal instrument for a minimum of three months from the date of application.

Joint Owners and Occupiers

Where rateable property is owned or occupied by more than two people, a majority of the owners and occupiers may nominate two persons from amongst themselves, to be enrolled as owner /occupier electors.

Corporations

A body corporate, which owns or occupies rateable property, may nominate two persons provided they are enrolled on either the State or Commonwealth electoral rolls. If the body corporate owns properties in more than one ward the same nominees must apply for both wards. The Shire requires confirmation in writing from the body corporate, stating the names of the nominees.

Enrolment Duration

For occupiers and corporations, if an enrolment eligibility claim is accepted it will remain valid for the next two ordinary elections in the Shire. After that period, if the elector wishes to retain their eligibility they will need to make another enrolment eligibility claim.

Eligibility for property owners remains in force until the property is sold or they wish to cancel their enrolment.

Nominate as a Candidate

Nominations open: Thursday, 31 August 2023

Nominations close: Thursday, 7 September 2023 at 4.00pm

Nominations can only be made to the Returning Officer during the designated nomination period. When a candidate makes a declaration , they are attesting that t they are an elector of the district and are not disqualified from holding office. The Returning Officer can witness a candidate's declaration. For more information about nominations please visit the Western Australian Electoral Commission.

To nominate as a candidate for a Local Government Election, the candidate must make a valid nomination application. This consists of:

• a completed nomination form. It is recommended that candidates use Nomination Builder to complete their nomination form and construct their candidate profile.
• a candidate profile (maximum 1000 characters inclusive of spaces).
• a deposit of $100.
• a photograph (optional).

All nomination applications must be signed by the candidate in front of a witness. The nomination application must be presented to the Returning Officer at a pre-arranged appointment before 4.00pm on the day of close of nominations, 37 days before election day.

As the Returning Officer may ask candidates to amend their nomination, it is recommended that candidates ensure that they have allowed sufficient time to finalise any required changes prior to the close of nominations.

Eligibility to nominate

Under the Local Government Act 1995, to be eligible to nominate as a candidate for a local government election, the candidate must be an elector of the district (residential or owner / occupier) and over 18 years of age. A person cannot nominate as a candidate if they:

• are a member of the Legislative Assembly, the Legislative Council, the House of Representatives or the Senate (or has been elected as such a member but has not yet taken office)
• are a member of the council of another Local Government
• are an insolvent under administration
• are in prison serving a sentence for a crime
• have been convicted of a serious local government offence within the last 5 years (unless the court waived the disqualification)
• have been convicted on indictment of an offence for which the indictable penalty was, or included:
  • imprisonment for life, or
  • imprisonment for more than five years.
• are subject to a court order disqualifying him or her from being a member of a council because he or she has misapplied local government funds or property
• are a nominee of a body corporate.

Prior to nominating, all candidates must complete the online candidate induction course from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries website. 

This video is a recording of the Candidate Information Webinar that was held on Monday, 14 August 2023.
As well as describing the key processes and roles in becoming a Councillor, the webinar included a Question-and-Answer session addressing direct queries from participants.

LG Candidate Briefing. Everything you need to know about being a Local Government Candidate.

 

 

View the results of the local government election held on Saturday, 16 October 2021.

View the results of the local government election held on Saturday, 21 October 2023