iVote and the 2021 NSW Local Government elections

The NSW Electoral Commission is aware that some iVote users were unable to gain access to the system to vote today.

This was due to the increased volume of people using the iVote system.

Almost triple the number of voters have used iVote at these elections than any previous election.

The Local Government Act was amended earlier this year to allow iVote for the first time at council elections, in response to the challenges of COVID-19.

At the 2019 NSW State elections 234,401 votes were cast using iVote. At close of applications at 1pm today 652,983 votes had been cast using the system since it opened on 22 November.

Any eligible elector who applied to use iVote today but missed out on voting will be excused from paying any penalty. The Electoral Commissioner may also determine, after the elections have finished, that other categories of electors should be excused for having a sufficient reason.

We apologise to any voters unable to gain access to the system due to these issues. A full report on the conduct of the election is required by legislation to be released on our website by May 2022.

Addendum

The full Local council election report will be published by June 2022.