City of Ryde (West Ward) Local government by-election: Political participants bulletin No.2
Bulletin No. 2 Issued 12 September 2022
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1. Reminder close of nominations
The nomination lodgement period commenced Monday, 5 September 2022 and closes 12 noon, Wednesday, 14 September 2022.
Nominations may be lodged in person at the Returning Officer’s office. Nomination deposits must be paid in person to the Returning Officer in cash or by bank, building society or credit union cheque.
The Returning Officer’s office address is:
Foundation Park, Building B
Suite 1.02, Level 1
11 Talavera Road
Macquarie Park NSW 2113
If you cannot lodge your nomination papers at the Returning Officer’s office, please contact our Candidate Helpdesk immediately to explore other options at candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au.
Any nomination forms or deposits received after 12 noon, Wednesday, 14 September 2022 will not be accepted. This includes:
nomination forms received before 12 noon but that contain material errors or omissions that were not identified and corrected by the candidate or party before 12 noon,
nomination forms received before 12 noon where the nomination deposit was not received by 12 noon.
Being nominated is not the same as being registered with the Electoral Commission for electoral funding purposes. You must separately nominate by the time and date above for your name to appear on the ballot paper even if you have already registered.
2. Witnessing the statutory declaration in the candidate information sheet
Each candidate must complete the candidate information sheet (CIS) that is included in the nomination form. The CIS includes a statutory declaration that can only be witnessed by particular authorised people. A Justice of the Peace (JP), lawyer or notary public is authorised to witness a statutory declaration. A list of other people who are approved witnesses is also available at the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department website. If the statutory declaration in the CIS is not witnessed by an authorised witness, the nomination forms cannot be accepted or corrected after 12 noon on 14 September.
It is up to every candidate to ensure their CIS is true, accurate and properly witnessed before their nomination forms are submitted.
All information provided by a person in nomination papers (including the CIS), must be true and accurate. It can be a criminal offence to include false information in electoral papers, which may be investigated and enforced by the NSW Electoral Commission.
3. Postal vote applications open
Postal vote applications opened on 6 September 2022. Electors may apply online, over the telephone or by completing a paper form available on the NSW Electoral Commission website. Postal vote applications must be received by the NSW Electoral Commission by 5pm, Monday 10 October 2022.
Any candidate or political party intending to distribute or otherwise make available postal vote applications to electors – including via websites not maintained by the NSW Electoral Commission - must do so in the form approved by the Electoral Commissioner, which is available by request to pva@elections.nsw.gov.au.
The approved form includes important information for electors about who is collecting their personal information if they are not returning their application directly to the NSW Electoral Commission. This information must not be removed or separated from the postal vote application form.
Candidates and parties are also urged to seek guidance as early as possible from the NSW Electoral Commission (via the email above) about any material they wish to make available to electors together with postal vote applications. This is a service provided to assist election participants to understand the legislative obligations around:
submitting applications to vote by post on behalf of electors, and
the design, content and authorisation of any electoral material that they intend to distribute or otherwise make available to electors together with applications to vote by post.
Guidance should be sought from the NSW Electoral Commission prior to printing materials, to avoid inconvenience such as re-printing and associated costs.
4. Regulated period for electoral material has started
From Monday, 5 September 2022 to 6pm on election day, Saturday, 15 October 2022, all electoral material must meet the requirements of the legislation. For example, electoral material must include the name and address of the person authorising the material and electoral material must not contain incorrect or misleading information about how to cast a valid vote.
For information on the legislative requirements for electoral material please refer to section 15 of the Candidate handbook, watch our Electoral material rules and Registration of electoral material videos and visit the Electoral material rules and registration information page to learn more.
It can be a criminal offence for electoral material to contravene the requirements of NSW election laws. The NSW Electoral Commission can investigate and take enforcement action about breaches of election laws.
5. Electoral material registration open
The registration of electoral material commences on Wednesday, 14 September 2022 and closes at 5pm, Friday 7 October 2022.
The Registration of electoral material online system will not be available for this election.
The Application to register electoral material LG.212 form will be available on our website. Applicants should complete the form and email the completed form with a copy of the electoral material to candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au. Approved electoral material will be displayed on the website from Tuesday 4 October 2022.
All electoral material that is to be distributed on election day by political parties, groups, candidates, and any other persons or organisations, must be registered with the Electoral Commissioner. This includes any material that is handed out or left in a position to indicate it is for collection by the public.
The following types of electoral material do not need to be registered:
posters or corflutes displayed on election day or pre poll voting days
any items distributed outside of election day.
6. Registration for funding and disclosure purposes
NSW has strict electoral funding laws that regulate the election campaign finances of political parties and candidates at local government elections. Candidates must register for the election before accepting political donations or making payments for electoral expenditure.
Applications for registration close Wednesday, 14 September 2022.
Being registered as a candidate for the election is a separate process to being nominated. To have your name included on a ballot paper you must lodge a nomination form and nomination deposit during the nomination period (see item 1 above for details about the nomination process).
Candidates who are not registered must not accept political donations or make payments for electoral expenditure before being nominated. When nominated by the Returning Officer on Thursday 15 September 2022, any nominated candidates who had not registered before being nominated are taken to be registered and can lawfully accept political donations and make payments for electoral expenditure for the election.
There are significant legal obligations associated with accepting political donations and making payments for electoral expenditure, including record-keeping and disclosure obligations. Criminal penalties may apply for non-compliance. To learn more, go to Funding and disclosure.
Apply online to be registered using Funding and Disclosure Online, the NSW Electoral Commission’s online portal for political participants. Request access today if you don’t yet have it. If you are unable to use Funding and Disclosure Online, PDF forms to be completed and returned by email or post are available on request by emailing: fdc@elections.nsw.gov.au.
Enquiries about being registered and the laws that apply to political donations and electoral expenditure may also be sent to fdc@elections.nsw.gov.au
7. Ballot paper draw
The draw to determine the order of candidates’ names on the ballot paper for each councillor election will take place at the Returning Officer’s office from 10am, Thursday 15 September 2022.
Candidates or their representatives, registered political parties, media and members of the public are welcome to attend the draw.
The Returning Officers’ office address is:
Foundation Park, Building B
Suite 1.02, Level 1
11 Talavera Road
Macquarie Park NSW 2113
8. Ballot paper template
A ballot paper template will be available to assist in the preparation of electoral material following the conduct of the ballot paper draw.
The template will assist candidates in preparing their electoral material, particularly how-to-vote material. When including a sample of the ballot paper on how-to-vote material, the details must be an accurate representation of the ballot paper, for example, the spelling of candidates’ names, registered political party names and the inclusion (or exclusion) of the word ‘Independent’. This information must appear exactly as it will be on the ballot paper for the election. Partial representations of the ballot paper may be accepted.
9. Projections
Pre-poll and polling place projections are available on our website, under step 5 of the Six steps to being a candidate.
10. Voting centre locations and hours
The locations and opening hours of pre-poll and election day polling places are available on the NSW Electoral Commission website under ‘Where do I vote?’.
11. Further information / candidate helpdesk
Further information regarding the local government elections including key dates can be found on the NSW Electoral Commission website or by contacting the Candidate Helpdesk on 1300 022 011 or candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au.