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 to assist the new voting system:

Nominations can only be made to the Returning Officer during the designated nomination period. When a candidate makes a declaration, they are attesting that 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 (1000 characters maximum)
• an optional additional statement by the candidate of maximum 2000 characters, including spaces – this is submitted to the RO, not via Nomination Builder. This will be posted at the Shire website by the RO.
• 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.

Candidate packs are available on the WAEC website www.elections.wa.gov.au

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 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; or
• 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.

Submitting a nomination

Candidates must have completed the mandatory Local Government Candidate Induction course before finalising their nomination and recorded the reference number and date on the nomination form.

They are encouraged to use the Nomination Builder on the WAEC’s website www.elections.wa.gov.au as it allows candidates to enter their details, write up their profile up to 1,000 characters including spaces, which must be written in English, and upload their optional passport-sized photo.

The Nomination Builder provides candidates with an easy method to input and edit their profile and place their photograph in a document ready for display on the Shire of Cranbrook’s website.

Once candidates meet with the Returning Officer, Cherie Doyle, to submit their profile it will not be corrected by the Returning Officer; unless it does contain any information that is considered to be false, misleading, or defamatory and exceed the allowable 1,000 characters, including spaces.

Please bring a printed-out version (signed) and submit it with your nomination deposit of $100.00 (cash, bank cheque or postal note) to the Returning Officer at the time of nomination.

Candidates may also submit additional relevant information of not more than 2,000 characters that will be published on the Shire of Cranbrook’s official website. The relevant information is optional but if you choose to provide it, it must be submitted with your nomination. This additional information cannot be entered into Nomination Builder.

A mandatory Code of Conduct applies to all Council Members. The code also applies to all candidates.

It is recommended that nominations are not left until the last minute as if a nomination is incomplete, it may not be accepted.

DLGSC has provided the following video to assist in understanding the new voting system:

If you are a non-resident owner or occupier of rateable property in the Shire of Cranbrook and are on the State or Commonwealth Electoral Roll, you are eligible to enrol to vote. If you are not on the State or Commonwealth Electoral Roll and own or occupy rateable property in the Shire of Cranbrook you may be eligible to enrol to vote. This applies if you were on the last electoral roll for the Shire of Cranbrook prior to May 1996 and have owned or occupied rateable property in the district continuously since this time. Please contact your local government for details. Owners of land who were on the last Local Government roll continue to retain that status until they cease to own the rateable property to which the enrolment relates. Occupiers do not have continuous enrolment and should contact the Shire of Cranbrook to confirm their enrolment status. To be eligible to enrol as an occupier, you will need to have a right of continuous occupation under a lease, tenancy agreement or other legal instrument for at least the next three months following the date of the application to enrol.

Joint Owners and Occupiers

If a rateable property is owned or occupied by more than two people, a majority of the owners/occupiers may nominate two persons from amongst themselves who are on either the State or Commonwealth Electoral Roll, to enrol as owner/occupier electors.

Corporations

A body corporate that owns or occupies rateable property may nominate two people who are on either the State or Commonwealth Electoral Roll to enrol as owner/occupier electors.

Voting is not compulsory but is encouraged.

All eligible electors must enrol to vote. When you enrol to vote, you are enrolled for Commonwealth, State and Local Government Elections. You can check your enrolment online.

All residents in a Local Government district who are enrolled on the State Electoral Roll are automatically enrolled on the corresponding local government roll.

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.