2021 NSW Local Government elections: Political Participants Bulletin No.14
Bulletin No.14
Issued 26 October 2021
On this page
1. New safety directions within 100 metres of polling places
To reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission between electors, election officials and candidate/political party volunteers, the usual “six metre rule” is being extended to 100 metres with the Electoral Commissioner issuing new directions under the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021:
No electoral material is to be handed out, or left out for collection, in a publicly owned or occupied area (such as on the footpath) that is within 100 metres of the entrance to a polling place or a pre-polling venue on polling days, and
No posters can be displayed in a publicly owned or occupied area (such as on the footpath or school fences) within 100 metres of the entrance to a polling place or pre-poll venue on polling days, unless they are put in place before 7am (and are otherwise lawful and safe – such as not obstructing electors or other people). Any posters put in place before 7am on a polling day must not to be adjusted or moved again until after 7pm. This direction applies to all types of posters, including A-frames and corflutes.
Material or posters that contravene these directions can be confiscated and destroyed by election officials. A copy of the Electoral Commissioner’s directions in full have been published on the NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC) website.
Although traditional campaigning around polling places must be more limited for safety reasons at these elections, political participants should note the following:
their Candidate Information Sheet, which is a compulsory part of the nomination form, contains relevant information such as qualifications, statements of policy or beliefs and other relevant information. The Candidate Information Sheet will be displayed on the NSWEC website from the lodgement of nominations up to 6pm on election day.
any candidate contact details (such as email address, mobile phone number, website address) provided on the nomination form will also be displayed on the NSWEC website.
how to vote cards must be registered with the Electoral Commissioner for approval to distribute on election day consistent with the new 100 metre rule. All approved registered electoral material will be displayed on the NSWEC website from the commencement of pre-poll voting on Monday, 22 November to 6pm, Saturday, 4 December 2021. This will enable electors to access registered electoral material prior to casting a pre-poll, iVote, postal or election day vote.
Further information will be provided at the webinar to be conducted on Thursday, 28 October.
Register your attendance for this and future webinars.
2. Nomination lodgement period has commenced
The nomination lodgement period commenced Monday, 25 October 2021 and closes 12 noon, Wednesday, 3 November 2021. Candidates and registered political parties can now lodge their nomination forms and pay the nomination deposit online. If lodging online, the nomination deposit must be paid by Visa or MasterCard.
Candidates and registered political parties are encouraged to lodge their nominations as soon as possible to allow time for any incomplete nominations to be amended.
Any nomination forms or deposits received after 12 noon, Wednesday, 3 November will not be accepted.
As previously advised, the Electoral Commissioner has determined that, to ensure the integrity of nomination data for the elections, any nomination or grouping form that had been started for the previous 4 September election date will need to be re-done, by either:
using NSWEC’s Nominations Online Management System (NOMS), or
using a paper nomination form.
Access NOMS
Candidates and parties are strongly encouraged to lodge their nomination online using NOMS. As the public health situation can change quickly in any local government area, locations at which a nomination can be lodged in person may need to be closed to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Using NOMS will also:
verify the enrolment of candidates and nominators,
assist in minimising errors and ensure all compulsory sections of the nomination form have been completed,
allow candidates and/or registered political parties, administrators and groups to oversee and manage the progress of each nomination,
allow for the nomination and deposit (VISA or Mastercard) to be lodged online, and
allow for automated messaging between the NSWEC and the candidate or party concerning the acceptance or rejection of each nomination.
The Electoral Commission urges every candidate to consider using NOMS and not wait for the final days of the nomination lodgement period.
Lodgement in person if NOMS is not feasible
If it is not feasible for a candidate to use NOMS, paper nominations can still be lodged (public health permitting) in person at the Returning Officer’s office, or at a nominated Council office accepting nominations for the area a candidate is nominating for.
The nomination deposit when lodging in person is payable by either cash, or bank or building society cheque.
The NSWEC website has a list of Returning Officers’ offices and Council offices accepting nominations.
Please phone the Returning Officer’s office to make an appointment if you wish to lodge your nomination in person.
When attending a Returning Officer’s office or Council (where applicable to lodge your nomination), you must:
register your attendance via the Service NSW app using a QR code. If it is not possible for you to register via the Service NSW app, you will be required to provide your details to a staff member,
comply with physical distancing requirements, and
wear a mask whilst inside the offices.
Please note that some Council offices may have additional COVID-19 safety requirements for visitors, such as evidence of vaccination status, before allowing entry to their buildings. It is important you check ahead with your local council before arriving to lodge your nomination in person at a Council office.
As noted above, candidates and parties are strongly encouraged to reconsider lodging a nomination in person and to instead use NOMS. For assistance using NOMS please call our Candidate Helpdesk on 1300 022 011 or email candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au.
Candidates who are silent electors – Electoral Commission must set up your NOMS account
For security reasons, candidates who are enrolled as silent electors and wish to use NOMS are not able to create their own NOMS account online.
For any silent elector wishing to nominate as a candidate using NOMS, please contact our Candidate Helpdesk on 1300 022 011 as soon as possible so you can be provided with assistance to create an account.
For security and privacy reasons, the Electoral Commission does not encourage the inclusion of personal enrolment information in emails, however, using email remains a last option if telephoning the Candidate Helpdesk is not reasonably practicable. Please consider carefully, however, the security of your own information technology systems before including your sensitive information in any email.
If it is essential for the purpose of you nominating online by the deadline, the following details may be provided to candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au, and a member of our Helpdesk team will be able to create an account for you:
Given name(s) as enrolled
Surname as enrolled
Enrolled address
Date of birth
Mobile phone number
Email linked to nomination
Nomination type (2 electors, or registered political party)
Name of registered political party (if applicable)
Contest type (mayor or councillor)
Council area/ward nominating for.
3. October is Cyber Security Awareness Month
Candidates for elections and registered political parties in Australia are likely to manage significant amounts of their own and other people’s sensitive data. October is Cyber Security Awareness Month and the theme this year is “Do your Part. #BeCyberSmart.”
The Electoral Commission strongly encourages political participants in NSW elections to increase their own knowledge, and the security of the data they hold, by visiting the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s website where there is valuable information available.
4. Electoral Funding Act registration for candidates and groups
Being nominated so your name can be included on the ballot paper as a candidate or group is a separate process to being registered with the Electoral Commission for electoral funding purposes. Registration for electoral funding purposes is still open and closes on the same day as the close of nominations, Wednesday, 3 November.
Candidates and groups who are not registered for electoral funding purposes must not accept political donations or make payments for electoral expenditure until the day the Returning Officer officially nominates the candidates and groups in a local government area.
Candidates and groups who are nominated for the elections and who have not registered for the elections for electoral funding purposes prior to nomination are taken to be registered when officially nominated by the Returning Officer. This is expected to occur Thursday, 4 November 2021, which is the day after the close of nominations.
From that time, all nominated candidates and groups can lawfully accept political donations and make payments for electoral expenditure for the election. Each candidate and group who is taken to be registered after the close of nominations will be notified by us in writing and advised of the caps on electoral expenditure that apply in their local government area or ward.
The details of registered candidates and groups are included in a publicly available register published on our website.
Once registered, candidates and groups whose registered details change must notify us within 30 days by using Funding and Disclosure Online or by submitting the Notice of change in registered particulars (EF.740) form available on our website.
5. Applications for postal votes open on 26 October
Postal vote applications can be made from 26 October 2021. Electors will be able to apply online, over the telephone or by completing a paper form available on the NSWEC website. Postal vote applications must be received by the NSWEC by 5pm, Monday, 29 November 2021.
Any candidate or political party intending to distribute postal vote applications to electors must use the form approved by the Electoral Commissioner, which is available on request by emailing pva@elections.nsw.gov.au. Refer to information provided in Bulletin 10 for more details.
6. Changes to pre-poll (early) voting eligibility
To mitigate the risks arising from COVID-19, some changes to voting options have been introduced for the 2021 Local Government elections only, allowing all electors to vote early in-person during the pre-poll voting period. Pre-poll voting will be available from Monday, 22 November to Friday, 3 December. Pre-poll voting days and hours vary between locations. Visit our website for early voting information.
7. iVote availability at these elections
A recent legislation change means iVote will be made available for some electors at the council elections being run by the Electoral Commissioner (not Fairfield or Penrith). iVote is a system of the Electoral Commission that allows eligible electors to vote online or over the phone, with the assistance of a call centre operator.
Applications for iVote open from Monday, 22 November until 1pm on Saturday, 4 December 2021.
Voting is open from Monday, 22 November until 6pm on Saturday, 4 December 2021.
Eligible electors can apply and vote online via our website or by calling our call centre on 1300 248 683.
Eligibility for iVote
The electors who will be eligible to use iVote at this election are those who:
are blind or have low vision,
are unable to vote without assistance or have difficulty voting at a polling place because of a disability or difficulties reading,
are a silent elector,
live more than 20 kilometres from a polling place,
will not be within the council area during election day, or
applied for a postal vote but did not receive their postal ballot papers before 5pm on 26 November 2021.
Scrutineers for iVote
Candidates and political parties may apply (subject to COVID-19 safety measures) to send scrutineers to observe key processes around voting and counting using the iVote system.
First, the Electoral Commission will perform a logic and accuracy test of the system prior to iVote opening to the public. This involves entering test votes, extracting these votes from the system and checking that the results match the votes input to ensure the system is ready to open.
This process is planned to take place between 15 November to 17 November at our temporary Queens Square, Sydney premises.
After voting closes, the Electoral Commission decrypts the votes from the core voting system and compares these votes with those held in the system’s verification service.
The Electoral Commission will undertake these processes in a decryption verification ceremony planned from 6pm on election day at 231 Elizabeth Street, Sydney.
An independent auditor will observe these processes and candidates or registered political parties can also appoint scrutineers to observe at these times.
Candidates or political parties intending to appoint scrutineers should contact the iVote team at ivote@elections.nsw.gov.au in advance to arrange access to NSWEC premises.
8. Protection from COVID-19 in our voting and counting venues
The NSWEC is required to put in place measures to minimise risks to the health, safety and wellbeing of electors, election staff and political participants, including to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection.
Our staff, electors and political participants who attend election venues during an election also have a duty under work health and safety law to take reasonable care for their own and others’ health and safety arising from COVID-19.
To minimise COVID-19 risks, the Electoral Commissioner has decided that to be eligible to work in voting venues, counting places, and Returning Officers’ offices, election officials must be vaccinated (unless they have a medical contraindication) and must wear face masks when working. Our election officials will also be authorised to give instructions to voters and political participants at our venues to follow the NSWEC’s COVID-19 Safety Plan at these elections.
A copy of our Safety Plan is available on our website. The following are some of the key protection measures:
QR check in and check out at all voting venues and counting places.
Wearing of face masks for all political participants around our venues. Political participants who wish to enter our venues, such as to scrutineer, must bring their own face mask. Local election officials will only have a limited supply of spare masks available at our venues.
Wearing of face masks by all electors attending voting venues. Local election officials will only have a limited supply of spare masks available at our venues.
Queue management and physical distancing will be managed at all voting venues, Returning Officers’ offices and counting places by dedicated staff.
Single use pens – electors can bring their own, but local election officials will have single-use pens available if electors do not bring one.
Hand sanitiser will be available at the entrance and exit of all voting venues and at all ballot paper issuing points.
Distanced voting screens and plastic inserts to allow the screens to be cleaned regularly, with dedicated staff also regularly cleaning other high touch surfaces.
NSW Health posters and messages reminding electors and staff to stay home if they are unwell
9. Candidate information webinars
The remaining candidate information webinars will be conducted on:
11am, Thursday, 28 October – Registration of Electoral material (also known as how-to-vote material)
11am, Monday, 8 November – iVote explained
11am, Thursday, 18 November – Early voting and election day voting
11am, Tuesday, 30 November – Candidate workers, scrutineers, counting and results.
Register your attendance and view past webinars.
10. Pre-poll and polling place elector number projections
Although how to vote handouts are being limited within 100 metres of polling places, the Electoral Commission is still making lists of pre-poll and polling place projections for the 2021 Local government elections available on our website, under step 5 the Six steps to being a candidate page.
Should you require further information please email candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au or phone the Candidate Helpdesk 1300 022 011.
11. Regulated period for electoral material has started
The regulated period for electoral material began on Monday, 25 October and closes at 6pm on election day, Saturday, 4 December 2021.
During the regulated period for a local government election, the Electoral Commission regulates electoral material in two general ways:
Enforces compliances with legal requirements about its content, for example, electoral material must not contain incorrect or misleading information about how to cast a valid vote; electoral material must include the name and address of the person authorising the material. The Electoral Commission does not have any power to regulate “truth in political advertising”, and
Enforces compliance with legal requirements about where it can be displayed or distributed, for example (at this election due to COVID-19 risks), how-to vote material must not be handed out on publicly owned or occupied areas within 100 metres of the entrance to venues at which people are voting. It should also be noted that, in accordance with requirements of individual property owners, posters may not be permitted to be displayed at all at certain premises.
More information about the rules that apply to electoral material during the regulated period is available on our website.
Registration of electoral material online system
The registration period for electoral material that needs to be registered with the Electoral Commission (election day hand-outs) commences on Wednesday, 3 November and closes at 5pm, Friday, 26 November 2021.
The Electoral Commission has developed an online registration system for the registration of this type of electoral material. The system will be available on the NSWEC website from Thursday, 4 November.
Posters are not required to be registered but they must comply with the requirements detailed in the Candidate Handbook under step 1 of the Six steps to being a candidate page.
Display of electoral material on the NSW Electoral Commission website
Registered electoral material will be displayed on the NSWEC website from the start of pre poll until 6:30pm election day. That is, Monday, 22 November 2021 until 6:30pm Saturday 4 December 2021.
Electoral material that is registered during the first week of pre poll and prior to the closure of registration of electoral material at 5pm Friday, 26 November 2021 will be progressively updated to the website.
12. Fairfield and Penrith council elections
Fairfield City and Penrith City councils have engaged a commercial electoral services provider to administer their 2021 elections.
Information in this Bulletin about the requirement for registration with the Electoral Commission for electoral funding purposes (accepting political donations and incurring electoral expenditure) still applies to candidates and other participants in those elections. Offences under local government electoral laws at all council elections are also enforced by the Electoral Commission.
However, participants in the Fairfield and Penrith council elections must contact those councils directly about their arrangements for the administration of nominations, registration of electoral material, applying for postal votes and declaration of results for those elections. The information in our Bulletins about these matters does not apply for Fairfield and Penrith elections.