People thinking of standing as candidates at the September council elections will need a lot of supportive friends and family to hand out how-to-vote cards.
That was one of a series of tips from a former mayor and now NSW independent MP for Wakehurst, Michael Regan, when he addressed a candidate information session held in Wyong on April 9.
Regan said candidates needed to start planning now.
He told the listeners, the majority of whom were older men, to visit the NSW Electoral Commission website to research the last Central Coast Council elections.
“Find out how many people voted at the booths and print that many how-to-vote cards,” Regan said, adding that candidates also needed to work out how many family and friends they would need to hand out the cards outside all the booths.
He said those helpers would need to have those entrances covered from 8am until 6pm.
Plus, there were the pre-poll places where candidates needed to have supporters handing out how-to-vote cards.
“Have people who know and believe in you,” Regan said.
He suggested people should think about running in multiple wards and share the workload in getting elected “because you’re going to be on Council together”.
He also suggested that candidates should stand in groups of three “and get your name in a box” even though it was highly unlikely that all three would be elected.
He said social media was “a big thing in getting your name out there” and advised candidates to start their own website or social media page.
“It’s all doable,” he said.
Regan also said candidates should check that they were actually enrolled to vote on the Central Coast or they wouldn’t be able to stand.
To find out go to https://check.aec.gov.au/
The candidate information session was the second held by Central Coast Council, with a third to be held in July on a date yet to be announced.
Merilyn Vale
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