Council elections delayed

NSW council elections will be delayed for the second year in a row as the government moves to postpone the poll to December in response to the state’s escalating coronavirus crisis.

Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock revealed last Saturday that the September 4 elections would be postponed until December 4, 2021.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and current Public Health Orders impacting Greater Sydney, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the Local Government elections until later this year,” she said.

“We have taken this step to postpone the election to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our communities, voters, polling staff and candidates.”

Candidate nominations were set to open on Monday, July 26, but have been delayed until October 25. Nominations will close on November 3.

The NSW Government has also worked with the Electoral Commission and NSW Health to implement a comprehensive plan to allow voters to cast their ballot safely in person, by post or online.

Electronic voting known as iVote will be available for the first time. The NSW Government has also implemented changes to prepoll to ensure that voters have 13 days to cast their ballot, reducing congestion on polling day.