Pre-polling for the local government elections on the Central Coast will start one week prior to the elections on September 14.
This is a shorter period than previous local government elections held in NSW in 2021 – but the Coast was under administration and didn’t get to vote in 2021.
Coast residents will vote this year, although all the candidates are not yet known.
The nomination period for candidates starts on Monday, August 5, and ends at noon on Wednesday, August 14, and the list of candidates will become public the next day.
Coasties will vote for the candidates in their ward only.
The Central Coast local government area is made up of five wards; Budgewoi, The Entrance, Wyong, Gosford East and Gosford West.
The last time the Coast voted, in 2017, more than 90 candidates stood.
The 2017 election was the first Central Coast Council election, the result of the former Gosford and Wyong councils merging in 2016.
Braille ballot papers are available for this election.
Absentee voting is not available in this election, but people who will not be in the area to vote have the option of organising a postal vote.
Applications to organise a postal vote open on Tuesday, August 6.
The Electoral Commission is urging people to apply online for a postal vote as soon as possible.
You are still expected to mark your postal vote on the day but have another 13 days to get the vote back to the counters.
Counting starts immediately the polls close on September 14, beginning at 6pm and concluding at 10pm that night.
Live updates will start at 7pm but all votes below the line; ie, votes for individuals not groups, will be put aside to be counted another day.
There is no counting on Sunday, September 15; it starts again on Monday, September 16.
A total of 60 per cent of people on average vote on the day, according to the Electoral Commission, which gave journalists a media briefing on the election this week.
A heap of information for both voters and candidates is on the website: https://elections.nsw.gov.au/elections
And the electoral Commission is also on all the social media sites.
More than 20,000 people will be paid to work on election day.
Assistance to vote: https://elections.nsw.gov.au/candidate-handbook-2024-nsw-local-government-elections/voting/assistance-to-vote
Looking for work: https://elections.nsw.gov.au/about-us/work-with-us/work-at-an-election
Merilyn Vale