2023 NSW State election: Political participants bulletin No.8

Issued 24 February 2023

1. Nomination lodgement period commences on Monday

The nomination lodgement period for the 2023 NSW State election commences next Monday, 27 February 2023 and closes 12 noon, Wednesday, 8 March 2023.

From Monday, 27 February 2023 candidates and parties will be able to lodge nominations and pay the nomination deposit fee.

Note: Nomination forms, grouping forms, or amendments to nomination or grouping forms will not be accepted after the close of the nomination lodgement period on 8 March 2023.

Lodging your nomination online

The Nomination Online Management System (NOMS) is available now for candidates and registered political parties to prepare their nomination forms. Candidates and parties are strongly encouraged to lodge their nomination online.

Lodging your nomination in person

A candidate nominating for the Legislative Assembly can lodge their nomination at the Election Manager’s office for the district in which they are nominating. Office addresses and opening hours will be available on our website from Monday, 27 February 2023 under step 4 of the six steps to being a candidate.

A candidate or registered political party seeking to lodge nominations for the Legislative Council can do so at the NSW Electoral Commission’s Liverpool Street office at Level 23, 175 Liverpool Street, Sydney. Please note, to lodge a nomination at head office, an appointment must be made in advance by contacting the Candidate Helpdesk on 1300 022 011 or email candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au.

Note: It is a strict legislative requirement that candidates and their nominators must be enrolled correctly as at 6pm on Monday, 6 March 2023.  This means no final confirmation that a nomination is valid can be emailed prior to Tuesday, 7 March.

Nomination deposit

The nomination deposit must be paid at the time of lodging a nomination.

When the nomination is lodged through NOMS, the nomination deposit can be paid electronically by Visa or Mastercard. If the nomination is lodged in person, the deposit must be paid in cash, by bank cheque or credit union or building society cheque made out to the NSW Electoral Commission.

Nominations drop-in sessions

Candidates and registered political parties who have questions about NOMS or the nominations process are encouraged to attend one of our drop-in sessions via Microsoft Teams.

The sessions are held each Tuesday afternoon from 2pm to 3pm until Tuesday, 7 March 2023.

There is no requirement to register for these sessions.

If you have a question specific to your individual circumstances or require personal details to be provided, we ask that you contact the Candidate Helpdesk directly on 1300 022 011 or email candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au.

2. Registration for candidates and groups

Candidates and groups of candidates must register for the election before accepting political donations or making payments for electoral expenditure.

Candidate registration for the election closes at 12 noon Wednesday, 8 March 2023.

Being registered as a candidate or group is a separate process to being nominated. Candidates and groups who do not register before being nominated are taken to be registered once they have been validly nominated. From that time, political donations can be accepted, and payments can be made for electoral expenditure for the election.

Apply to be registered as a candidate or group using Funding and Disclosure Online.

The details of registered candidates and groups are included in a publicly available register.

More information about registering as a candidate or group.

3. Political donation disclosures

Half-yearly political donation disclosures due 13 February

Political donation disclosures for the half-year period ending 31 December 2022 were due on 13 February 2023.

If you have not yet submitted your disclosure form, you must do so without further delay. Disclosures must be lodged by all political parties, elected members, candidates, groups of candidates, associated entities, and third-party campaigners.

If you did not make or receive any political donations in the half-year period, or you have reported all political donations in pre-election period disclosures, you are still required to lodge a ‘nil’ disclosure.

Disclosures can be submitted using Funding and Disclosure Online or alternatively disclosure forms available on our website.
 
More information about half-yearly donation disclosures.

Pre-election donation disclosure period continues until end of election day

All reportable political donations made or received during the pre-election period must continue to be disclosed to the NSW Electoral Commission within 21 days.

The pre-election disclosure period commenced on 1 October 2022 and ends on election day Saturday, 25 March 2023. Pre-election disclosures must be submitted by political parties, elected members, candidates, groups of candidates, associated entities, and third-party campaigners.

A reportable political donation is a donation valued at $1,000 or more. It also includes multiple smaller donations made by the same donor to the same recipient in the 2022-23 financial year that, in total, are valued at $1,000 or more.

Disclosures can be submitted using Funding and Disclosure Online or alternatively using the  disclosure form available on our website.
 
Pre-election donation disclosures can be viewed on our website shortly after they are lodged by choosing the following search options:

• Relevant Reporting Period: 2022/2023

• Disclosure Types: Pre-Election Donation

More information about pre-election period disclosures.

4. Voting centre locations and projections

A further update to voting centre and early voting centre locations, including projections, will be available on our website shortly under step 5 of the six steps to being a candidate. Venue lists include a release date for reference.

The majority of early voting centres will have the following opening hours:

Venue locations and times are subject to change. It should also be noted that a small number of venues may have reduced opening times, check our website using the Find my electorate tool for current information.

5. Electoral material

Regulated period

The regulated election period for the 2023 NSW State election commences Monday, 6 March 2023 and continues until 6pm on election day, Saturday, 25 March 2023.

Authorisation requirements

During the regulated period, a person must not print, publish, distribute or publicly display electoral material (other than the announcement in a newspaper of the holding of a meeting), without legibly showing on the material:

• the name and address of the person on whose instructions the material was printed, published, distributed or displayed; and

• if the material has been printed, the name of the printer and the street address of the premises at which it was printed.

The address of a person means an address that includes a full street address and suburb or locality in Australia at which the person can usually be contacted during the day. It does not include a post office box.

Electoral material distributed on election day

All electoral material (including how-to-vote cards) to be distributed on election day must be registered with the NSW Electoral Commission. It is an offence to distribute unregistered electoral material on election day.
 
‘Distributed’ also means leaving electoral material in a position and circumstances to indicate that it is intended to be available for collection by members of the public in a public place.

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.

How to register electoral material

Registered political parties, groups, candidates and other persons or organisations can access the online registration system following the ballot paper draw on Thursday, 9 March 2023, on the NSW Electoral Commission website.
 
If a person is unable to register electoral material online, they should:

• complete a paper copy of the Application to register electoral material (how to vote cards) for distribution on election day form SE.212. This paper form is available on request from the NSW Electoral Commission by calling 1300 022 011.

• lodge the completed paper copy of the Application to register electoral material (how to vote cards) for distribution on election day SE.212 form and the electoral material to be submitted for registration by one of the following means:
  • email: candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au
  • hand deliver: to the NSW Electoral Commission head office, by appointment only, by calling 1300 022 011
  • by post: GPO Box 832 SYDNEY NSW 2001.

Guide to creating accessible documents

The NSW Electoral Commission encourages registered electoral materials to be made accessible. This enables the materials to be read by people who use screen readers and other adaptive technology.

Please refer to the Creating accessible documents guide under the available resources heading in step 5 of the Six steps to being a candidate page for further assistance.

Electoral material distributed before election day

Electoral material to be distributed or displayed before election day (for example, at early voting centres) does not need to be registered.
 
However, all electoral material published, distributed or displayed during the regulated period must meet other legislative requirements, refer to the Candidate handbook under step 1 of the Six steps to being a candidate for more information regarding legislative requirements and electoral material offences.

Material must not appear to be authorised by the NSW Electoral Commission

Electoral material must not appear to be an official communication from the NSW Electoral Commission or Electoral Commissioner. Parties and candidates should make sure their electoral material:

• includes a candidate name, logo or party name in a prominent size and position

• does not state or infer it is the advice of the Electoral Commissioner (for example, about voting formally); and

• does not use design features (such as colour schemes) that are commonly associated with any Australian electoral bodies, so as not to mislead electors.

Display of electoral material on website

Registered electoral material will be displayed on the NSW Electoral Commission website from Monday, 13 March 2023 until 6pm election day.
 
Participants are encouraged to register their material as early as possible. This will allow for non-attendance voters (for example, electors voting by postal vote) to view the registered material.
 
Ballot paper templates will be available on our website from 11 March 2023 under step 5 of the six steps to being a candidate to assist with the creation of electoral material.

Social media authorisation

Political parties, candidates, members, third-party campaigners and associated entities should ensure their staff are aware of the authorisation requirements in relation to electoral material, particularly when posting publicly on social media during the regulated period.
 
On 22 February 2023, the Electoral Regulation 2018 was amended to clarify the way in which the relevant name and address of election participants must be shown in social media posts containing electoral material. The amendments also provide for exemptions from the authorisation requirements for particular social media posts, where no amount was paid to the social media platform in connection with the post.

Further information on the authorisation requirements in relation to social media posts can be found in the Candidate handbook under step 1 of the Six steps to being a candidate.

Electoral material videos

The NSW Electoral Commission has produced two video animations about the laws that apply to electoral material produced, published, distributed or displayed during the regulated election period. 

The animations outline the general rules that apply to electoral material produced for elections and the registration rules that apply to electoral material to be distributed on election day.

The animations are a useful resource for all political participants and supporters involved in elections in NSW. We encourage you to watch, and share, the animations.

Automated telephone calls

Automated telephone calls (also known as ‘robocalls’) must include an authorisation, that is, the name and address of the authoriser.

Authorisation for a robocall must be clearly spoken, in English.

Contravention of this rule is a criminal offence.

Robocalls include automated “push polling” (attempting to sway or alter prospective voters’ view) as well as traditional automated calls.

SMS text messages

The Regulation amendments noted above also clarify the authorisation requirements for SMS messages containing electoral material to permit:

• the message to contain a hyperlink to a website where the relevant name and address authorisation details are published, providing the website remains active for the duration of the regulated period; or

• the relevant name and address being included in an SMS message sent immediately after the message containing the electoral material providing the messages are sent from the same number.

Display of electoral material on power poles

Ausgrid has requested the NSW Electoral Commission communicate the below information in regard to the display of electoral material on power poles for the 2023 NSW State election:

The Electricity Supply Act 1995, the Electoral Act 2017 and Ausgrid’s own network standards all prohibit the attachment of material to electricity assets without approval. Therefore, a person who attaches a poster to an electricity pole without the written consent of its owner is in breach of the law.

These rules and standards are in place to ensure the safety of our community.

Ausgrid will remove and dispose of any election material attached to power poles during the campaign. Ausgrid will also charge the offending candidate up to $150 for each poster it removes to recover the cost of removal and disposal. 

This approach is focussed on deterring unsafe behaviour and ensuring our workers can continue to concentrate on providing a safe and reliable electricity supply. Attempting to climb or interfere in any way with a power pole, a substation or any asset with live electricity is simply too dangerous, and not worth the risk.

Ausgrid trusts candidates will remember this simple safety message and set a good example for their communities by avoiding placing their material on power poles or any electricity asset.

At Ausgrid, the safety of our customers and the communities we serve is our highest priority. We understand that in the past, campaign material may have been posted on power poles in breach of these rules. While this may be confusing, particularly to first time candidates, these rules are in place to preserve the standard of safety we abide by at Ausgrid. We ask that you pass this notification on to all candidates to ensure safety is prioritised.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Ausgrid Government Relations team via governmentrelations@ausgrid.com.au.

6. Ballot paper draws

Legislative Assembly

The draw to determine the order of candidates’ names on the ballot paper for each of the Legislative Assembly districts will be conducted at the respective Election Manager’s office from 10am on Thursday, 9 March 2023, the day after the close of nominations. Candidates or their representatives, registered political parties, media and members of the public are welcome to attend the draw.

Locations for the Legislative Assembly ballot paper draws will be available on our website from Monday, 27 February 2023 under step 4 of the six steps to being a candidate.

Legislative Council

The draw to determine the order of groups and candidates’ names on the ballot paper for the Legislative Council will commence at 10am on Thursday, 9 March 2023 at the NSW Electoral Commission’s Liverpool Street office at Level 23, 175 Liverpool Street, Sydney.  Candidates or their representatives, registered political parties, media and members of the public are welcome to attend the draw.

Livestreaming of the Legislative Council ballot paper draw

The NSW Electoral Commission will be livestreaming the Legislative Council ballot paper draw. There is no requirement to register to view this event, a link to view the livestreaming will be published on our website under step 1 of the Six steps to being a candidate. 

This streaming of the Legislative Council ballot paper draw will not be recorded. In the event there are technical difficulties that prevent the livestream, the conduct of the draw will continue without disruption. The order of candidates/groups will be published on the NSW Electoral Commission website following the completion of the draw.

7. Candidate and participant information webinars

The next webinar will provide an overview of electoral material, compliance and voting. It will be held at 11am, Thursday, 2 March 2023 and will cover the following topics:

• electoral material requirements (including how-to-vote cards)

• registration of electoral material for distribution on election day

• registration of candidates and groups

• candidate workers and scrutineers

• early voting

• postal voting

• telephone assisted voting for electors who are blind or have low vision

• compliance with electoral material laws

• compliance with election funding laws

• counting and results timeline.

Register your attendance for the webinar and find more information about the webinar series.

If you are unable to attend, please note that webinars are recorded and published on the NSW Electoral Commission website.

8. Candidate helpdesk changes to operational hours

In the lead up to the election, the Candidate helpdesk operational hours will be extended.

• From Saturday, 25 February 2023, the helpdesk will be open 9am to 5pm each Saturday

• From Monday, 27 February 2023, the helpdesk will be open from 8:30am to 6pm Monday to Friday

The candidate helpdesk can be contacted on 1300 022 011 or via email at candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au.

9. Amendments to the Register of Parties

The Register of Parties is kept on the Electoral Commission website and includes the names and abbreviations of the parties registered for State elections in NSW, details of senior office holders, and their party constitutions.

A reminder that during the election period for the 2023 NSW State election (6 March 2023 to election day, 25 March 2023) there is a freeze on changes to registered details of political parties registered for the election.

Applications to amend the registered details of State registered parties that are submitted during this time will not be processed until after the election.

More information about amending the Register of parties.