Counting ballot papers  

Results displayed on the NSW Electoral Commission website 

All count results (Initial Counts, Check Counts, and Distribution of Preferences) will be published at elections.nsw.gov.au as soon as they are available. 

Initial Counts 

From 6pm on election night, all Mayor and Councillor ballot papers will undergo an Initial Count. This comprises:

Mayor and Councillor ballot papers (No Group Voting Squares)

Sorting and counting the ballot papers according to the first preference for each candidate or to the Informals pile (i.e. ballot papers where there is no first preference recorded or that cannot be sorted to a candidate as they appear to be informal).

Councillor ballot papers (with Group Voting Squares)

Ballot papers are sorted to the following categories:

• the first preference Above the Line for each group with a Group Voting Square
• the first preference for each candidate in a group that does not have a Group Voting Square
• the first preference for each ungrouped candidate
• all other ballot papers will be sorted to the ‘Others (including Informals)’ pile.

Others (including Informals)

The ‘Others (including Informals)’ pile will contain in addition to the obviously informal ballot papers, ballot papers that may be formal and will be sorted to the correct category during the Check Count. These are listed below:

• ballot papers marked both above and below the line
• ballot papers that are marked below the line for candidates in a group with a Group Voting Square
• ballot papers the election official is unsure how to sort.

Note: The Initial Count is considered an indicative count only.

The Initial Count will be conducted at the following locations: 

• all ordinary ballot papers in each polling place 
• some, but not all, ordinary pre-poll ballot papers in each Returning Officer’s office 
• some, but not all postal ballot papers received to date at the Centralised Postal Vote Count Centre. 

Initial Count results will be published on the NSW Electoral Commission’s results web page elections.nsw.gov.au from approximately 6.30pm to 11pm election night. 

The NSW Electoral Commission’s website will continue to be updated daily with Initial Count results until the Initial Count is completed after the close of receipt of postal vote certificate envelopes at 6pm, Friday 13 days after the election. 

Sunday following election day 

No counting will occur on the Sunday following election day. Mayor or Councillor polling place counts that were not completed on election night will be completed in the Returning Officer’s office from the Monday following election day. 

From Monday following election day 

Initial Counts will continue on all contests (Mayor, Councillor, Referendum and Poll) as required at the Returning Officer’s office. 

Initial Counts of the postal vote ballot papers at the Centralised Postal Vote Count Centre will continue until after the close of receipt of postal vote certificate envelopes at 6pm Friday 13 days after the election. 

Declaration votes  

The location of declaration vote scrutiny and counts for each contest can be found on the NSW Electoral Commission’s website, and will be either at the: 

• Returning Officer’s office, or the 
• Centralised Declaration Vote Count Centre (CDVCC) 
• Scrutiny will commence on the Monday after election day. Initial Counts are expected to commence on the Thursday after election day at the CDVCC but may commence earlier in the Returning Officer’s offices. 

Referendum and Poll counts 

Referendum and Poll ballot papers will not be sorted to the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ answers on election night. However, the Referendum and Poll ballot papers will be accounted for, and the number of ballot papers issued will be reported to the Returning Officer. 

The Initial Counts for Referendum and Poll ballot papers will be undertaken at the Returning Officer’s office, the Centralised Postal Vote Count Centre, and the Centralised Declaration Vote Count Centre. They will commence after Initial Counts for Mayor and Councillor are complete (but may commence earlier if completion timeframes for Mayor and Councillor counts will not be impacted). 

Check Counts will only be conducted for Referendum/Poll questions if the result is close and, if required, will be conducted using the same manual process as the Initial Count. 

Check Counts 

In the week(s) following election day, all Mayor and Councillor ballot papers will undergo a Check Count. This comprises: 

• batching (counting the ballot papers into bundles of 25 without examining the preferences), and  
• data entry (two rounds of data entry, known as Round 1 and Round 2, and a reconciliation process).  

For by-elections, when there is one vacancy to be filled, the check count may be conducted manually.

The list of councils and addresses of the relevant Returning Officer’s office and/or count centre as applicable can be found on the NSW Electoral Commission’s website elections.nsw.gov.au 

The Check Count will continue daily as required until after the close of receipt of postal vote certificate envelopes at 6pm Friday 2 weeks after the election.

Check Count results will be published on the NSW Electoral Commission’s results web page in the weeks following election day.

The results website will continue to be updated daily with Check Count results until the counting is completed after the close of receipt of postal vote certificate envelopes at 6pm, Friday 13 days after the election.

Distribution of Preferences 

Mayor and Councillor 

The Distribution of Preferences for Mayor and Councillor is performed by the computer count system to determine the elected candidate(s). The method used depends on the type of election:

Distribution of Preferences explanation – optional preferential system 

The optional preferential system is described in Schedule 4 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021. 

The optional preferential voting system requires a candidate to receive 50% + 1 of the formal votes in the count. This is called an ‘absolute majority’. 

If there are 8,756 formal first preference votes in an election the absolute majority is calculated as: 8,756 ÷ 2 = 4,378 + 1 = 4,379.  

If a candidate has an absolute majority, that candidate is elected.  

If no candidate is elected, the candidate with the least number of votes is ‘excluded’, which means the excluded candidate’s votes are re-sorted to the other candidates remaining in the count, according to the second preference shown on each ballot paper. 

However, if any of those ballot papers do not have a second preference, or have two or more second preferences on them, those ballot papers are known as ‘exhausted’ ballot papers and are removed from the count. They are then only used to balance the number of votes at the end of each exclusion, to the number of first preference votes. 

The absolute majority is recalculated after every candidate is excluded. The absolute majority reduces after each exclusion due to the exhausted ballot papers not continuing in the count. 

The process of exclusions continues until a candidate is elected. The ballot papers of excluded candidates are re-sorted to the second, third, fourth, etc., preferences as applicable, until such time as a candidate has an absolute majority of the votes remaining in the count and that candidate is elected. 

For statistical purposes, the Distribution of Preferences will be conducted until only two candidates remain in the count. 

The process is explained in the following example:

Distribution of Preferences explanation – proportional representation system 

The proportional representation system is described in Schedule 5 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021. 

In a proportional voting system, a candidate is elected if they receive votes equal to or exceeding the quota. The quota is determined by first dividing the aggregate number of first preferences by one more than the number of candidates to be elected. The quotient (disregarding the fraction) is increased by 1 to give the quota.  

Example: if there are 15,000 formal first preference votes in an election and there are eight councillors to be elected the quota is calculated as: 15,000 ÷ 9 = 1,666.6666, disregard the fraction + 1 = 1,667. 

After the count of first preferences is complete, each candidate who has reached quota is elected. 

Where an elected candidate has a surplus of ballot papers over the quota, this surplus is transferred to the continuing candidates (i.e. those not yet elected or excluded). If multiple candidates are elected, each candidate’s surplus is transferred (one at a time) to the continuing candidates, from the highest surplus to the lowest. 

To transfer a surplus, all the ballot papers received by the elected candidate are sorted to their next preferred continuing candidate. Each ballot paper is then worth a portion of that surplus. This portion is called the transfer value. Example: if an elected candidate had 100 ballot papers and their surplus was 10 votes, then each ballot paper would be worth 0.1 of a vote. A continuing candidate receiving 20 of these ballot papers would therefore receive two of the 10 surplus votes. 

After each transfer of ballot papers (and their associated votes), if any more candidates have reached the quota, they are elected and added to the queue of surpluses to be transferred. This transfer of surpluses continues (one at a time) until all have been transferred. 

Then, if vacancies remain, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is excluded. All the ballot papers received by this candidate, including those received from surplus transfers, are sorted to the continuing candidates according to their next available preference. 

This process continues with candidates being:  

• elected when their votes equal or exceed the quota, with their surplus distributed as above or 
• excluded, with their ballot papers distributed as above 

until either: 

• no vacancies remain to be filled or 
• the number of remaining candidates equals the number of remaining vacancies or  
• all remaining vacancies can be filled by candidates whose total votes cannot be overtaken by the remaining candidates in the count. 

In these circumstances, the elected candidates are elected despite not reaching the quota. 

An example Distribution of Preferences case study and a detailed report spreadsheet that shows how ballot papers are distributed under the proportional representation system, showing a count of first preferences, a surplus transfer, and an exclusion transfer, is available at elections.nsw.gov.au. 

Recounts 

There are two ways in which a recount can occur under the Regulation, namely: 

• a recount request from a candidate setting out the reasons for the request, accepted by the Electoral Commissioner; or  
• on the Electoral Commissioner’s own motion. 

Any request for a recount must:  

• be in writing, and 
• be signed by the candidate, and 
• set out the reasons for the request, and  
• be lodged with the Returning Officer within 24 hours of the results being published on NSWEC results website. 

The preferred way to lodge a recount request is by email to: 

• the relevant Council’s Returning Officer, and 
• the NSW Electoral Commission at candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au 

It is strongly recommended that requestors follow up in person or by telephone with the Returning Officer to confirm their email request has been received. 

A candidate who is granted a recount is not required to cover the cost of the recount.  

Where a recount is requested and subsequently approved by the Electoral Commissioner, the Declaration of Results will be delayed until the completion of the recount. 

Declaration of the election 

When all the votes have been counted, the Returning Officer declares the election in writing, which is an official announcement of the election result. The declaration will be displayed at the office of the relevant council and published on elections.nsw.gov.au. 

Challenges to election results 

Any person may apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for an order to have a person dismissed from civic office. The NCAT may exercise its power to dismiss a person from civic office if it finds that there has been an ‘irregularity’ in the election of a person. 

Proceedings based on the ground that there has been an irregularity in the manner in which a person has been elected or appointed to civic office may not be commenced more than 3 months after the date of the person’s election or appointment to that office. 

Filling a councillor casual vacancy 

When a casual vacancy occurs after the local government ordinary election in a Councillor position (for example through resignation or death), the vacancy is filled by way of a by-election, unless one of the following options is used: 

• In the 18 months following the local government ordinary election, a countback election will be conducted, but only if the relevant council passed a resolution at its first meeting after the ordinary election that any vacancy would be filled by a countback of votes and if the vacating Councillor was elected under the proportional representation method (that is, where two or more candidates were elected). 
• In the 18 months prior to the next local government ordinary election, the council may receive ministerial approval to leave the position vacant until that next election. 

When casual vacancies remain due to not enough candidates nominating at the local government ordinary election, the vacancies must be filled by way of a by-election. 

Filling a popularly elected mayor casual vacancy 

When a casual vacancy occurs for a popularly elected mayor (for example through resignation or death), the vacancy is filled by way of a by-election, unless it occurs within 18 months before the next local government ordinary election. 

If so, the Governor of New South Wales will appoint a Councillor nominated by the council to the vacant office. If the council does not nominate a Councillor, the Governor may appoint one of the Councillors to the office.