Webinar Q&As

Yes, you can view all webinars on the NSWEC website.

The section relating to group nominations can be found in this webinar at approximately 23 minutes.

Our nomination online management system (NOMS) and paper nomination forms are now available.

Yes. Paper nominations can be lodged in person at the Returning Officer’s office, or at a Council office accepting nominations (details will be available from our website). The nomination deposit must be paid by either cash, or bank or building society cheque when lodging in person.

The nomination deposit is $125 per candidate, but if lodging a group of 5 candidates or more at the same time, the nomination deposit is capped at $625. If another candidate/s is later added to the group, a $125 deposit is required for each additional candidate.

An elector who nominates a candidate must provide their given name, last name, address and date of birth. This information must be as it appears on the electoral roll. The nominator must sign the nomination form.

Nominators cannot use NOMS. For candidates nominated by electors, the candidate is required to print the blank nominators section of the form, have their nominators fill in their details and sign where shown. The candidate then scans and uploads the form into NOMS. The candidate also enters their nominators’ details into NOMS, which will verify that each nominator has provided the correct information and is eligible to nominate the candidate. NOMS also verifies the candidate has enough valid nominators.

Yes, a group may have more candidates than the minimum number to be elected. There is no maximum number of candidates in a group, however, once the number of candidates to be elected is exceeded, the candidates who are lower in the order of the group than the number to be elected cannot be elected.

The Candidate Information Sheet requires the candidate’s:

• name
• suburb, town or locality of their enrolled address
• enrolment qualification
• whether the candidate is a property developer
• whether the candidate is a member of a registered political party.

The Statistical Information Sheet requires the candidate’s name, enrolled address and general information such as age, whether they have been a candidate or councillor previously, whether the candidate is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, occupation, etc.

Yes. However, if you complete your nomination online using NOMS, certain candidate information will be prepopulated to assist you. 

Nomination forms are not available for public inspection. Certain details must be displayed on the NSW Electoral Commission website, being each candidate’s full name, the candidate’s name as it will appear on the ballot papers, and the suburb, town or other locality of the candidate’s place of residence as enrolled. Information provided on the Candidate Information Sheet must also be published on the NSW Electoral Commission website.

No information about nominators is published.

No. The political party will be advised once the candidate has withdrawn.

If a candidate joins a group whose number is larger than the number of councillors to be elected, e.g. if there are three councillors to be elected and a candidate is the fourth in the order of the group, that candidate cannot be elected.

An ‘unwinnable’ place can also refer to a candidate who is considered too low in the order of the candidates in a group to be elected, e.g. the group is not larger than the number to be elected but other groups are expected to receive sufficient votes to have a candidate/s elected.

Preferences are distributed (or ‘flow’) according to how each elector completes their ballot paper.

Candidates and political parties cannot affect the distribution of preferences, other than by publishing how-to-vote material, which electors may or may not follow.

Ballot papers must be printed in accordance with the format specified in legislation (Local Government (General) Regulation 2021). The ballot paper draw is the random process of determining the order candidates and groups will appear on the ballot paper. This process is open to the candidates and public.

Printed electoral material distributed on the election day must be registered by the NSW Electoral Commission. There will be a webinar on electoral material on Tuesday, 6 August 2024 at 11am. Register here.

Our online electoral material registration system will be available following the ballot paper draw. This involves the completion of the online application form and the uploading of the electoral material submitted for registration. 

Electoral material is reviewed as quickly as possible, depending on the volume of applications being processed at the time. It is always recommended that applications are made as soon as possible to allow enough time for possible corrections to be made. If you are unable to register electoral material online, please contact the candidate helpdesk 1300 022 011.