Residents

You can vote at Council elections if you are registered on the State Roll as a resident, before the rolls close.

Claims for enrolment on the State Roll should be made at any Australian Electoral Commission in Western Australia.

Owners And Occupiers

You are also eligible to be enrolled to vote if you are a non-resident owner or occupier of rateable property, provided that you are on a State or Commonwealth Electoral Roll. However, it is essential that you lodge an enrolment form. You can obtain an enrolment form from any local government office and lodge it with your local Council before closing day.

If you are not on a State or Commonwealth electoral roll, a claim can still be accepted, provided you were on the last owner and occupier's roll for that electorate and have continued to own or occupy rateable property in that electorate continuously since that roll was prepared.

To be eligible to enrol as an occupier, you will need to have a right of continuous occupation under a lease, tenancy agreement or other legal document for at least the next 3 months following the date of the application to enrol.

Joint Owners And Occupiers

If a rateable property is owned or occupied by more than two persons, a majority of the owners/occupiers may nominate two persons from amongst themselves who are either on the State or Commonwealth rolls, to enrol as owner/occupier electors.

Corporations

A body corporate which owns or occupies rateable property may nominate two persons who are on either the State or Commonwealth electoral rolls, to enrol as owner/occupier electors.

If you need to apply for registration on the Shire's Roll or wish to check that you are enrolled, please contact the Shire's rating department on  9927 0000 or  rates@irwin.wa.gov.au.

Polling places are advertised in "The West Australian" and local newspapers prior to each election.

The Shire of Irwin Extraordinary Election will take plave via a postal vote.  

For postal elections, postal election packages (ballots) will be mailed out around 4 weeks before the election day. 

Completed ballots must be returned to the WA Electoral Commission by 6pm on election day. Ballots received after this time won’t be counted. If it’s too late to post, you can hand deliver your election package to a local polling place.  

If you’ve misplaced or damaged your postal election package, visit your local government office for a replacement package. Don’t forget to bring your ID.  

Who can be a candidate?

Under the Local Government Act 1995, to be eligible to nominate as a candidate for a local government election, the candidate must be:

• an elector of the district (residential or owner/occupier) and
• over 18 years of age.
• Not disqualified by anything below.

A person cannot nominate to be a candidate nor remain a councillor if they:

• are a member of State or Federal Parliament
• are a member of the council of another local government
• are an insolvent under administration
• are in prison serving a sentence for a crime
• have been convicted of a serious local government offence within the last five years (unless the court waived the disqualification)
• have been convicted on indictment of an offence for which the indictable penalty was, or included:
  • imprisonment for life, or
  • imprisonment for more than five years
• are subject to a court order disqualifying them from being a member of a council because they have misapplied local government funds or property
• are a nominee of a body corporate
• propose standing for two positions on council (unless standing for mayor or president as well as councillor)
• are currently disqualified by the State Administrative Tribunal from holding office as a member of a council.

Before nominating, all candidates must complete an online induction via the Department of Local Government, Sport & Cultural Industries. 

How to nominate

To nominate as a candidate for a local government election, the candidate must submit an application consisting of:

• a completed nomination form. For elections being run by the WAEC, it is recommended that candidates use Nomination Builder to complete their nomination form and construct their candidate profile.
• a candidate profile which must:
  • be in English
  • be no more than 1000 characters (including spaces)
  • not contain false, defamatory or misleading information
  • fit on an A4 page
  • include the candidate’s full name and contact information
  • a photograph, no larger than passport-sized and taken in the last six months (optional).
• a deposit of $100

Candidates may also provide a written statement in English, of up to 2,000 characters (including spaces) with their nomination paper (optional).

All nomination applications must be signed by the candidate in front of a witness.

The nomination application must be submitted to the Returning Officer during the nomination period.

As the Returning Officer may ask candidates to amend their nomination, it is recommended that candidates ensure they have allowed sufficient time to finalise any required changes before the close of nominations.

More information

Additional information for candidates can be found on the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries website.  

Candidates and electoral gift donors must disclose electoral gifts received, made or promised during the disclosure period, which runs until the day of swearing-in for successful candidates or three days after election day for unsuccessful candidates. 

All candidates are subject to the electoral gift requirements of the Local Government (Elections) Regulations 1997, including candidates who are current Council members. 
Electoral gifts need to be disclosed either - 

• within 3 days of nomination if the gift is received, made or promised prior to the candidates nomination, or
• within 3 days of the gift being received, made or promised once the candidate has nominated.  

A gift is an electoral gift for the purposes of the Local Government (Elections) Regulations 1997 where - 

• the gift relates to the candidate’s candidature, and
• the value of the gift is $200 or more, or it is one of two or more gifts made by one person during the disclosure period with a total value of $200 or more.

Electoral gift donors are closely associated persons under the Act. Prior to accepting any electoral gifts, candidates should consider how the acceptance may affect their ability to participate in future decision-making processes.

Electoral gifts do not include the provision of volunteer labour, gifts by will, or gifts by a relative (as defined by section 5.74(1) of the Act).

2023 Local Government Ordinary Election - Electoral Gift Register