Voting on Election Day
Polling places
On election day electors vote at polling places. You can vote at any polling place in New South Wales.
Polling places are open from 8 am to 6 pm on election day.
Most polling places are in schools or community halls. A full list of all polling places is published at the time of the election. Consult the election specific pages in this website to find polling place details.
Political party workers
Party and candidate workers will be outside most polling places with 'How to Vote' cards showing you how they would like you to vote for their candidate.
Scrutineers
Scrutineers for the candidates may be present in the polling place. They may request the election official to ask you certain questions relating to your entitlement to vote. You must answer these questions and, if you answer the questions to the satisfaction of the election official, you will be allowed to vote.
Scrutineers are present during key election processes including the counting of votes. They play an important role in the election by attesting to the transparency and accuracy of the count.
Assistance to electors
Electors who require assistance to vote can seek such assistance from an election official.
Ballot papers
At a general election there are two ballot papers to be completed. One is for the Legislative Assembly and one for the Legislative Council. You must take your ballot papers to a voting compartment and mark them by following the instructions on each ballot paper.
Voting is secret and you do not have to tell anyone how you voted.
If you make a mistake on your ballot paper, take it back to the same election official who gave it to you and ask for a new ballot paper.
Do not sign or mark the ballot paper in any way which may identify you.
The ballot papers must be completed in private. Once the ballot papers have been completed they must be folded separately so that the vote cannot be seen and, if you voted as an ordinary voter, placed in the ballot boxes located at the exit of the polling place (there is one for the Legislative Assembly ballot papers and one for the Legislative Council ballot papers).
If you voted as an absent voter or a section voter (see below), the ballot papers will be enclosed in the declaration envelope. The returning officer will later determine if you are enrolled and entitled to vote.
Types of voting
If you vote at a polling place within your electorate, you vote as an ordinary voter.
If you vote at a polling place outside your electorate, you vote as an absent voter.
Voting as an ordinary voter
When you enter the polling place go to the next available election official at an issuing table. The election official is required to ask you to state your full name, date of birth and address and if you have voted before in the election. You are only entitled to vote once.
The election official will mark your name off the electoral roll and hand you the ballot papers.
Voting as a section voter
If your name is not on the electoral roll but you have enrolled you are entitled to vote as a section voter. If your name is marked to show that you have already voted but you know you haven't, you are also entitled to vote as a section voter. If you vote as a section voter, you must place your ballot papers in a declaration envelope which you have to sign so that your enrolment details can be checked later. If an error has been made your vote will be admitted to the count.
Voting as an absent voter
When you vote outside your electorate as an absent voter, you will be required to place your ballot papers in a declaration envelope which you have to sign. This is so that your name can be marked off the electoral roll for the district in which you are enrolled.
Special procedures are followed when opening declaration envelopes in order to ensure the secrecy of each vote. Election officials opening declaration envelopes and counting votes are required by law to preserve the elector’s secret ballot.