Declaration voting

On election day, we use printed copies of the electoral roll to check your identity and mark you off before we give you your ballot papers. We might ask you to complete a declaration vote if:

• you are voting outside the electorate you are enrolled in (absent declaration voting is available for state elections only).
• you are not enrolled to vote, you enrolled to vote after the electoral roll was printed, or you think you have been removed from the roll by mistake
• your name has already been marked off on the roll as having voted in the election.

A declaration vote means you can vote as normal, and allows us to conduct extra checks to make sure your vote is properly counted. A declaration vote, like every vote, is a secret ballot.

Voters who are not on the electoral roll or who need to update their enrolment details, can vote in person by making a declaration vote at a voting centre on election day, or at an early voting centre before the election. 

Voters who wish to make a declaration vote to either enrol or update their enrolment details need to bring the prescribed form of photo identification, namely, either a NSW Driver Licence or a NSW Photo Card.

Electors who wish to cast an enrolment declaration vote because they have acquired Australian citizenship will need to provide either an Australian passport or Citizenship Certificate number.   

How does a declaration vote work?

1. A Declaration Vote Issuing Officer will ask you for some more information to determine which type of declaration vote envelope you will need to complete.

2. You will be asked to complete a declaration vote envelope.

3. Once you have completed and returned your declaration vote envelope to the Declaration Vote Issuing Officer you will be issued with your ballot papers.

4. The declaration vote envelope will remain with the Declaration Vote Issuing Officer as you complete your ballot papers.

5. You will need to return your completed ballot papers to the Declaration Vote Issuing Officer, who will place the ballot papers in your completed declaration vote envelope, seal it and place in the declaration vote ballot box for you.

The details on your declaration envelope are used to check your eligibility to vote against the most up-to-date version of the electoral roll. After we confirm your eligibility, your ballot papers are removed and separated from the envelope and counted with the other ballots in the election.