2023 NSW State election: Legislative Council ballot papers
The New South Wales state election will be held on Saturday, 25 March 2023.
Voting is compulsory.
At this election, you will be given two ballot papers to complete.
The small ballot paper is for the Legislative Assembly, also called the lower house. The large ballot paper is for the Legislative Council, also called the upper house.
Watch this video to understand how to complete your Legislative Council ballot paper.
Completing the Legislative Council ballot paper
The NSW Legislative Council has 42 members. Each member represents the whole state in Parliament for an eight-year term. At this election, voters elect half the Legislative Council. The other half of the Legislative Council will be elected at the next state election in 2027.
The Legislative Council ballot paper has a thick line running across it, with group voting squares above the line and columns of candidate voting squares below the line.
By voting above the line, you are voting for all candidates in that group. The squares below the line list the candidates for each group, as well as ungrouped candidates, listed individually in the last column on the ballot paper. Candidates are listed in columns.
When completing your ballot paper for the Legislative Council, you must choose between voting 'above the line' or 'below the line'.
Voting above the line
To vote ‘above the line’, you must write the number 1 in a group voting square above the thick horizontal line on the ballot paper. By doing this you are voting for the whole group of candidates listed in the same column underneath that voting square, in the order they are listed.
If you want to, you can vote for more groups by writing the number 2 in a group voting square above the line, then the number 3 and so on. If you vote above the line, do not put any numbers in any squares below the line.
Voting below the line
You can vote ‘below the line’ if you want to vote for candidates individually in the order of your choice. Your choices can be from within the same group, from different groups, from ungrouped candidates, or from a mixture of grouped and ungrouped candidates.
You must write the number 1 in the square next to the candidate who is your first choice. Then you must write the number 2 for your second choice, then number 3 for your third, and continue until you have chosen 15 candidates.
You must choose at least 15 candidates below the line for your vote to be counted, but you can select more choices, if you wish, by writing more numbers in the other squares, starting with the number 16.
If you vote below the line, do not write numbers in any squares above the line.
Remember: Always read the instructions carefully on your ballot papers.
(Outro)
For more information about the 2023 NSW State election visit elections.nsw.gov.au
