The department will be closed from Monday 23 December 2024 and will reopen on Thursday 2 January 2025. We will respond to queries in the new year. Best wishes for a safe and happy festive season.
Intro
January 2024
The owners and occupiers roll (roll), is maintained by a local government’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The roll is required to include all people who have claimed a right to vote in the local government district under section 4.30 of the Local Government Act 1995 (LG Act). Section 4.30 provides (excerpt only):
As such, a person who is enrolled to vote in a State or Federal election outside a district or ward, but who owns or occupies a rateable property in a local government district or ward, may claim eligibility and be enrolled to vote in elections for that district or ward. However, there are additional requirements to be considered when assessing an enrolment claim, including requirements under the Local Government (Elections) Regulations 1997 (Election Regs).
This guideline aims to assist local governments in understanding the various requirements in the LG Act and Election Regs for enrolment eligibility claims.
When using this guideline, local governments should be aware of section 4.32(5) of the LG Act that allows the CEO to make any inquiries needed to make a decision on a claim. As such, a CEO should ensure they are satisfied that a claimant has a genuine claim based upon the evidence provided.
They should also be aware that all references to a CEO in this guideline include a delegate if the relevant power or duty has been delegated by the CEO to that person under section 5.44 (CEO may delegate powers) of the LG Act.
It is important to note that this document does not constitute legal advice and has been prepared to assist CEOs in the performance of their duties. Accordingly, if in doubt, local governments should seek legal advice and should always refer to the relevant provisions of the LG Act and Election Regs.
This guideline has been prepared based upon the requirements of the LG Act and the Election Regs following the commencement of relevant sections in the Local Government Amendment Act 2023 and the Local Government Regulations Amendment Regulations (No.3) 2023.
Section 4.30 of the LG Act allows 2 types of claims — a claim of ownership or a claim of occupation. This is supplemented by section 4.31 of the LG Act which covers various ownership or occupation scenarios; including where more than 2 people (including body corporates) own or occupy the property.
Eligibility to vote as an owner or occupier, relies generally on 3 things:
Electors can make enrolment eligibility claims by using the forms enclosed in these guidelines, which have been approved by the Departmental CEO (Director General) to be the forms for enrolment eligibility claims and nominations. These can be found below.
This guideline addresses potential situations that could arise when assessing enrolment eligibility claims. These are (see section 2.5 for details):
Claims of ownership are generally straightforward although they do not necessarily always reflect what is shown on the certificate of title for the relevant property. This is because the definition of 'owner' in the LG Act applies.
When determining eligibility, the term 'owner' means1:
Disputes about the ownership of a property should primarily rely on what is registered on the certificate of title, subject to any lease, contract or other legal instrument that otherwise provides the person with an applicable interest in the land.
The LG Act and the Election Regs impose a series of requirements and tests on occupier claims. To make a claim of occupation, the claimant must have a written lease, tenancy agreement or other legal instrument, such as a licence to occupy to evidence a claim of a right of occupation to rateable property. They must have held a right of occupation for 12 months prior to making their claim and have a right of occupation which will last for at least 3 months following the claim.
The Election Regs set out a series of requirements for a person to be enrolled as an occupier including:
Local government CEOs have a responsibility to ensure a free and fair election. This includes ensuring that those enrolled to vote have an actual entitlement to be enrolled.
Broadly it is possible for many occupiers to occupy a property. For example, large office towers in the Perth central business district house many different companies and organisations, this may mean that a single office tower produces more than a dozen voters. This however is similar to how a large building of apartments may contain more than a dozen residences.
The nature of the right to enrol as an occupier may be further complicated by the process of sub leasing, and chains of subleases.
The eligibility requirements for 'occupation' are covered further in Part 3 of this guideline. To further assist local governments, an occupation claim assessment which may be adapted to suit your local government (see Appendix 2, of the PDF version of this guide).
The LG Act provides generally for 2 people that own a property to have a vote each. This reflects the common ownership arrangements of residential property. However, some property ownership arrangements mean that a property is not always owned by 1 or 2 natural persons or a single body corporate. It can be co-owned or co-occupied by a group of people. Section 4.31(1E) and (1F) of the LG Act states that:
(1E) If more than 2 people own rateable property in conjunction with each other, the owners are whichever 2 of those people who, being eligible under section 4.30(1)(a), are nominated as owners by all or a majority of those people.
(1F) If more than 2 people occupy rateable property in conjunction with each other, the occupiers are whichever 2 of those people who, being eligible under section 4.30(1)(a), are nominated as occupiers by all or a majority of those people.
Due to the nature of property ownership it is possible for more than one body corporate, or a mixture of bodies corporate or natural people to have co-ownership or co-occupation of a property, and claims of this nature are occasionally made.
Co-ownership refers to when more than 2 natural persons or more than one body corporate (or a mixture of both) are listed as the owner on the certificate of title (or are otherwise owners in accordance with the definition in section 1.4 of the Act).
Co-occupation refers to when more than 2 natural persons or more than one body corporate (or a mixture of both) are listed as lessee on the lease.
It is important to note that, in any case, no more than 2 people can be nominated. The table below provides how many persons may be nominated in the following situations:
This means for example where a property is owned by a body corporate and a natural person, the body corporate needs to nominate its 2 electors, then those 2 electors, and the natural person may nominate 2 of the 3 to vote on behalf of the owners. For this purpose, the forms 2, 2B and 2C would need to be completed (see forms below).
In relation to the ownership or occupation of properties by companies and associations, section 4.31(1G) of the LG Act provides that:
“If a body corporate owns or occupies rateable property, the owners or occupiers are 2 people who, being eligible under section 4.30(1)(a), are nominated as owners or occupiers by the body corporate.”
This allows a body corporate to appoint 2 persons (nominees) to vote on its behalf. The LG Act and Election Regs do not require this person to be related to the body corporate, only nominated by the body corporate.
The following are examples of a body corporate:
There are some common misconceptions associated with body corporates as owners or occupiers, as those concepts are tied to the legal status of the entity involved and not how a business is generally operated in practice. The examples below set out common claimants which are not “body corporates” for the purposes of the LG Act, although the claimant may still be eligible to enrol to vote in a different capacity.
Where in doubt as to if a nominating body corporate is indeed a body corporate it may be prudent to seek legal advice.
Clause 12 of Schedule 9.3 to the LG Act provides for the continuous enrolment of persons who were enrolled under the Local Government Act 1960 (1960 Act) which did not necessarily require a person to hold Australian citizenship to be enrolled to vote. Section 35 of the 1960 Act also allowed for natural born or naturalized British subjects ordinarily residing in the State to vote.
Clause 12 of Schedule 9.3 to the LG Act allows those persons on the electoral roll, prior to the commencement of the LG Act2, who have continuously owned or occupied property in a district since then, to remain enrolled. A local government CEO is obliged to maintain a copy of that roll under that clause.
For a claim to be successful the claimant needs to have:
As a result, it is possible, though unlikely that any claimant can meet these tests. Nevertheless, this avenue for enrolment remains within the LG Act.
The CEO considering an enrolment eligibility claim should ensure that suitable evidence has been provided or gathered to confirm the person is eligible for enrolment. The checklist below provides guidance on what should be confirmed for each enrolment claim:
The first step with all claims should be to verify that the claimant (or corporate nominee) is enrolled to vote for either:
These checks can be conducted through the websites of either electoral commission through the 'check my enrolment' feature. The details provided on the enrolment form by the applicant should allow you to verify this. If you are experiencing difficulties verifying a claimant, or the claimant indicates they are a silent elector, the local government can contact the Western Australia Electoral Commission via waec@waec.wa.gov.au to verify enrolment.
Silent elector status can only be claimed by a person if they are already a silent elector on the State or Commonwealth electoral rolls. This can be verified through the Western Australian Electoral Commission as needed.
It is important to verify that the claimant is not already enrolled to vote in the ward, or in a local government with no wards, the district, as a person cannot be enrolled as both a resident and on the owner and occupiers roll for a ward.
In rejecting claims on this basis, the following reasons should be provided on the form that rejects their application:
You are already enrolled to vote for [name of local government] elections as a resident in the [name of ward]. To be eligible for enrolment as an owner or occupier, section 4.30(1)(a) of the Local Government Act 1995 requires that you be enrolled for a State or Federal election for a residence outside of the relevant ward.
You are not enrolled to vote for the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia or House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia. To be eligible to be enrolled as an owner or occupier, section 4.30(1)(a) of the Local Government Act 1995 requires that you be enrolled for a State or Federal election for a residence outside of the [name of local government]/[name of ward].
The second step on all claims is to verify that a property is rateable. These records are held by the local government and should be easily accessible for verification purposes. It is important to note that if a property is receiving a rates concession, it is still rateable. It is only if the LG Act or another written law provides an exception for that property from paying rates that it is unrateable.3
As the owner of the property under the LG Act is ordinarily the person liable for the payment of rates, ownership can be verified through these records. If disputes arise regarding the ownership of land, a local government should rely on the certificate of title and any other contract or legal instrument that provides the person an interest in the land.
Occasionally, some claimants may also be unaware of the specific boundaries of a local government. This may result in them applying to the wrong local government. For example, the suburb of Mount Lawley is located in the Cities of Vincent, Bayswater and Stirling.
If rejecting a claim due to these checks, one of the following reasons should be provided:
The property you have claimed for eligibility to vote is not a rateable property. To be eligible to be enrolled, section 4.30(1)(b) of the Local Government Act 1995 requires that you (or the body corporate that nominates you) own or occupy rateable property in the [name of local government].
The property that you have claimed for eligibility to vote is not within the [insert name of local government]. It is in the boundaries of the [insert name of local government].
To be eligible to be enrolled, section 4.30(1)(b) of the Local Government Act 1995 requires that you (or the body corporate that nominates you) own or occupy rateable property within the [insert name of local government].
You (or the body corporate that has nominated you) do not own the property that you have claimed for eligibility to vote.
Where a body corporate makes an enrolment eligibility claim, it is important that the CEO is satisfied the body corporate exists. In doing so, the local government should verify that the body corporate has a current registration through the registration authority (for example, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) or the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS)). This can be done online via the relevant websites.
If a body corporate cannot be found online, the local government may wish to conduct an ABN lookup to establish the nature of the business to help determine if the entity is a body corporate at all.
The nomination by a body corporate (for example, a company) must be made by an officer of that body corporate, as defined in the Election Regs. This means the nomination must be made by:
For body corporates which are not companies under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) the local government will need to consider if the nominator is the equivalent of these positions for that body corporate. The nominator may also nominate themselves.
Finally, in this check, the CEO should establish if the body corporate already has 2 nominees on the roll. This is not a basis for rejection; however, the body corporate should confirm its withdrawal of a previous nomination to before they can add any new nominees.
In refusing claims due to a failure to satisfy this check, the following reasons should be provided:
To be eligible to be enrolled as a nominee of a body corporate under section 4.31(1G) of the Local Government Act 1995. you must be nominated by a body corporate that owns or occupies property in the [insert name of local government].
Based on the evidence provided, the body corporate that has nominated you is not registered with [insert relevant authority] and is unable to nominate you to vote on its behalf.
The entity that has nominated you is not a body corporate as it is a [insert relevant details]. e.g. A trust, which is a financial relationship between a trustee and beneficiary. A sole trader, which is a natural person with an Australian Business Number. A partnership, which is a legal relationship between 2 or more people.
To be eligible to be enrolled as a nominee of a body corporate under section 4.31(1G) of the Local Government Act 1995, you must be nominated by a body corporate that owns or occupies property in the [local government district/ward].
You have not provided a nomination from the body corporate that owns/occupies the property at [insert address].
You have not provided a nomination signed by an officer of the body corporate. An officer of the body corporate must be a director, the CEO or company secretary or equivalent role.
Where more than 2 persons (or bodies corporate) co-own or co-occupy a property, they may nominate 2 of the co-owners or co-occupiers to vote on their collective behalf. In doing so, they should provide completed form 2B or other document that meets the requirements of the regulations regarding this nomination requirement.
Where a body corporate owns a property with other bodies corporate or natural persons, the nominees of the body corporate under 4.31(1G) are to be considered as being the owners and occupiers for the purposes of section 4.31(1E)&(1F).
Occasionally, there may be applications to remove and replace nominees. Where this arises, the CEO should rely on the process in section 4.35(1)(c) of the LG Act to provide 28 days’ notice of removal. This is discussed further in Part 4.
If a claimant cannot satisfy the majority nomination requirement, the following reason should be provided:
To be eligible to be enrolled as a nominee of a group of more than 2 owners/occupiers* under section 4.31(1E)/(1F)* of the Local Government Act 1995, you must be nominated by a majority of the owners/occupiers*.
You have not provided a nomination from a majority of the joint owners/occupiers* of the property.
*Delete what is not relevant.
Unlike ownership of rateable property, which is often a clear outcome with only 2 voters for the owners of a property, there can be a large number of occupation claims from a single property. Large commercial shopping centres or office buildings give rise to a large number of potential 'separate and distinguishable portions' of a rateable property that could be used to each claim 2 votes.
When considering a right of occupation, the CEO must establish the following to confirm that a genuine right of occupation that is sufficient to establish a right to be eligible to vote under the LG Act. For this purpose, the following should be met.
A claim must meet the following
1. The claimant has a lease, tenancy agreement or other legal instrument to evidence a claim of a right of occupation to rateable property.Section 4.31(1C) of the LG Act states that a person can only be considered to have a right of occupation if the person has a right of continuous occupation under a lease, tenancy agreement or other legal instrument. A verbal arrangement does meet this test. At a minimum, a written agreement signed by the lessor and lessee setting out the terms of occupancy should be provided
2. The claimant is the lessee.To claim a right of occupation, the individual or body corporate claimant needs to be the person listed on the legal instrument. If they are not, they need to be able to produce a deed of novation or assignment to demonstrate that they are the person with the right of occupation. If the legal instrument does not list the claimant as lessee, they are not the person holding the right of occupation.
3. The lease is with the owner or former owner or tenant who had the right to sublet.It is also reasonable to expect that any legal agreement provided is with the owner of the rateable property. On occasions, agreements have been presented to a local government that are between persons who are not the owner and a claiming occupier. Where the lessor listed does not have the power to lease the land, this may mean that no right of occupation exists.Likewise, where the claimant is a sublessee, the local government should make enquiries to clarify if the sublessor had the ability to sublease the property from the head lessor.
4. The claim is not disqualified by the regulations made under section 4.31(1CA).
Section 4.31(1CA) allows regulations to be made that provide that a person is not regarded as occupying rateable property unless they meet prescribed requirements.
These prescribed requirements are set out in regulation 10A of the Election Regs. In summary terms these are:
a. The property or portion of the property is not a residence (r10A(2)(a)).
A person who occupies a residence should be enrolled as a resident, not as an owner and occupier. This is also to prevent people seeking to rent out rooms of their residential property to obtain additional voting rights.
Subregulation (3) provides that a property or portion thereof is a residence or includes a residence.
Subregulation (4) additionally provides that a property is considered a residence if a person is enrolled on the residence roll for that property.
A residence is a place in which a person can live. Determining if a property is a residence consideration may be given to:
b. The person has a right of quiet enjoyment to 10m2 of floor area which is not excluded floor area (r10(2)(b).
There are two aspects of this requirement. The first is the right of quiet enjoyment.
The right of quiet enjoyment is a term used in the leasing of property that conveys the right to a tenant to have occupancy of the property without unreasonable interference from their landlord or another tenant. This is intended to reflect that an enrolled occupier should have an exclusive right to their property. In general, a clause granting the lessee the right of quiet enjoyment is present in a lease. If this clause is not present, but ‘exclusive occupancy’ is granted this achieves the same intent.
The second component is the 10m2 of floor area leased. Generally, a lease will specify the square meterage of area that has been let. If not, the CEO should seek information from the applicant regarding this. There are also a series of exclusions to what should count towards the square meterage requirement to deal with a number of the alleged sham instances which were occurring. These are:
While this may appear to be a significant number of exclusions, these exclusions will only need significant assessment where the lease provided is for a very small area. If it is clear and obvious that there are more than 10m2 of valid floor area leased. It is generally anticipated most cafes, bars, retail shops and company offices would meet these requirements. As would many industrial and commercial complexes.
Where this requirement may require scrutiny is for the renting of a single office or for very small shops or food businesses. In this instance the local government may want to examine any plans provided in the lease or held in the local government’s property records, such as the approved building permit plans.
c. The property or portion of the property can be secured from intruders (r10(2)(c)).
The requirement that the property can be secured from intruders is intended to ensure that occupier claims for properties are for places with ‘four walls, a roof and lockable door’. This reflects a basic expectation that occupiers on the owners and occupiers roll do have a secured premises.
Specifically, this means that arrangements such as for renting a desk would be unlikely to meet this requirement unless the desk was in a lockable office, which the person exclusively occupied, which was at least 10m2 overall and the minimum amount of rent was being paid.
Subregulation (7) clarifies that any outdoor space or area to which the right of quiet enjoyment does not extend does not need to be secured against intruders.
Evidence of this can be demonstrates through an examination of the floor plan, the building plans kept by the local government or photography evidencing the ability to secure the property.
d. The relevant person is using the property to genuinely carry on their business (r10(2)(d)).
This requirement captures the overall intent of the revised non resident occupier franchise, that it is for people who carry on their business within the local government. The regulation captures both the current carry on of the business, or the intent to do so to capture where for example building fit out is underway.
This requirement is ultimately one of judgement for the local government where consideration may want to be given to the actual or permitted uses of the property under the lease and the law.
While a local government may initially accept a claim believing the claim that the business is genuinely carried on the from property, where it becomes apparent that this is not occurring, the proposal to remove the elector from the roll under section 4.35 relying on this regulation may be appropriate.
Election Regulation 12D extends these requirements to also apply to the lease(s) which is relied upon to meet the requirement for 12 months tenure prior to the date of claim.
5. The claim is for a separate building or portion of a building or some other separate and distinguishable portion of the rateable property which meets the requirements of the regulations.Section 4.31(1D) of the LG Act provides that a reference to occupation includes a separate building or portion of a building or some other separate and distinguishable portion of the rateable property.
This provides grounds to at least expect a lease of a separate space. As a result, the local government should examine the leased area to confirm it is for a space that could be reasonably distinguished from the rest of the rateable property, such as:
This requirement should be considered in conjunction with the election regs regarding the requirements to occupy property.
6. The claimant has had a lease in the district for 12 months prior to their claim and their existing lease has a term of at least 3 months at the date of the claim and is paying the minimum amount of rent prescribed on those leases.Section 4.32(3) of the LG Act requires a claimant to have:
This is intended to bring to an end the practice of short-term leasing arrangements in order to stand for election or vote.
If the right of occupation is dated after the date of the claim or there is a break in the leases, the claim should not be accepted as the claimant did not have the right of occupation required.
A local government should also consider if the lease allows for termination without cause with less than three months’ notice, such as during a holding over period. Clauses of this nature may not provide sufficient security of tenure.
The minimum amounts of rent are prescribed in Election Reg 12C and are:
The minimum amount of rent to be paid is the lower of the two amounts. This means for example if a person rent 20m2 in the City of Perth they need to be paying at least $2,000 per annum in rent following the formula:
Formula: Total rent per annum / floor area = rate per m2
Example: $2000 / 20m2 = $100 per m2
Likewise, if the per metre squared rate is known, the formula would be: Rate per m2 per annum x floor are = annual rent
The flat minimum rate has been set to reduce the burden of local governments to conduct these calculations. For example, if they are paying $12,000 per annum then no calculation would be needed.
The minimum rates of rent have been set as round numbers for the ease of local governments in calculating the minimum rent requirements. Regulation 12C also details what to do if the claim relates to multiple properties.
Subregulation (8) provides that minimum rental requirements do not apply to registered charities, recognising they often lease property at a ‘peppercorn’ rate.
In the event a claimant is unable to demonstrate these matters, the following reasons for refusal should be provided:
The lease you have provided:*
Based on the evidence provided you/the body corporate that has nominated you**, you do not have a right of occupation for a rateable property, which meets the prescribed requirements for the 12 months prior to your claim and for at least 3 months subsequent to your claim, under a lease, tenancy agreement or other legal instrument** in the [name of local government].
This is required by sections 4.30(1)(b), 4.31(1C) and 4.31(1D) of the Local Government Act 1995 and regulations 10A, 12C and 12D of the Local Government (Elections) Regulations 1997.
*Delete whatever reasons are not required**Delete what is not required.
Select either:
Based on the evidence provided, you/the body corporate that has nominated you* do not have a right of occupation of a separate or distinguishable portion of rateable property, under a lease, tenancy agreement or other legal instrument** for at least 3 months, in the [insert name of local government].
This is required by sections 4.30(1)(b), 4.31(1C) and 4.31(1D) of the Local Government Act 1995 and regulation 12B of the Local Government (Elections) Regulations 1997.
**Delete what is not required.
Some local governments have historically rejected enrolments because a person is already on the owners and occupier roll or is already nominated for a different body corporate. It does not appear that these represent a valid basis for rejecting enrolment. If this occurs, a local government should update the enrolment of the claimant or nominee to the most recent enrolment.
A person can be the nominee of several bodies corporate; however, that person can only receive 1 vote for the district or in the case of a local government having wards, a ward, as per section 4.66 of the LG Act.
Sections 4.33, 4.35 and 4.43 of the LG Act provide the ways a person is to be removed from the roll. As part of their maintenance of the roll, local governments should ensure they appropriately maintain their roll, follow the correct processes, and only remove those persons who they have the power to remove. The processes provide certain avenues for a CEO to remove someone without a need to seek submissions for 28 days; however, the submission process may need to be adhered to in some cases.
Section 4.33(1) of the LG Act provides that a person’s enrolment expires when they are enrolled based on their ownership of rateable property and their property is sold. Local governments regularly receive details of land sales, consistent with section 9.68 of the LG Act.
CEO’s should ensure that where advice of change of ownership is received, the roll is checked to ensure that the owner is removed if they were enrolled.
A CEO should however ensure that it does not remove all owners if only one owner of a group changes.
If one person in a pair of owners changes, only the person that no longer has ownership should be removed.
If a property is owned by a group of three or more people and there is an ownership change, a local government should check if the change of ownership changes the majority required for the nominees under section 4.31(1E).
Section 4.33 of the LG Act provides enrolments based upon occupation to expire when a person no longer occupies the property to which their claim relates.
CEO’s that become aware that a business has moved or closed down may remove that person from the roll. Local governments should however ensure they verify that the lease has ended as, just because a shop has closed does not mean the legal tenure over the property has concluded.
Section 4.33 of the LG Act provides for the expiration of enrolments when a person is enrolled based on the occupation of rateable property. The table below outlines when claims expire based on when they were originally made.
Expiration of occupier claims:
If accepted for enrolment, a claimant will always have the opportunity to vote in two ordinary elections before expiry.
For example, for claims that expire based on the effluxion of time, this means for claims made between the 2021 Ordinary Election Day and the close of roll for the 2023 Ordinary Election expire on 21 April 2026, being two ordinary elections and six months from 21 October 2023.
Section 4.33 of the LG Act also provides that where a council is suspended or dismissed and an ordinary election is skipped because of this, it is to be treated as though an ordinary election did take place for the purposes of this section.
If an extraordinary or other election will be held within 50 days of a person’s expiry day under this section, expiry is not to occur until the day after that extraordinary or other election day.
It is recommended that a local government review their roll six months following an ordinary election to remove all occupiers who are due to expire.
Section 4.35(1)(a) of the LG Act allows an elector to advise the CEO that they are no longer eligible to be enrolled. If this occurs, the CEO should remove this person from the roll.
Section 4.35(1)(b) of the LG Act allows a CEO to remove a person from the roll who has passed away. A CEO may be notified of this when property ownership changes to the executor of an estate, by the family of the deceased person or by the Electoral Commission. Local governments can also check death notices to proactively maintain a roll. In these instances, the local government may remove a person from the roll.
Section 4.43(1) of the LG Act requires the Returning Officer (RO) to delete the name of any person who is also on the residents roll from the owners and occupiers roll for that ward (or if there are no wards, that district).
For elections where the CEO is not the RO, such as when an RO is appointed by the Electoral Commissioner, section 4.43(3a) of the LG Act permits the RO to direct the CEO to make the changes required by section 4.43(1).
In both cases, the CEO must remove the person that appears on the residents roll from the owners and occupiers roll.
Section 4.35 of the LG Act provides a process for removal with notice where the CEO has reason to believe an elector is no longer eligible. This method is to be used when removal cannot be done in line with 1 of the 5 reasons set out in part 4.2 of this guideline. Reasons why a CEO may consider a person to no longer be qualified to be included on the roll can include:
In these instances, the CEO may give notice to the elector setting out the reasons they believe they are not eligible. In doing so, the CEO should set out the reasons they believe the person is no longer eligible and detail the evidence they are relying on in forming their view.
The CEO must provide that elector 28 days to provide a submission in response. This submission may contest the CEO’s evidence or provide information that resolves the eligibility question.
Regulation 11 of the Election Regs allows a body corporate or group of co-owner/co-occupiers to withdraw their nomination of an elector. While there is no express requirement to provide notice to the elector prior to withdrawal of the nomination, the CEO may wish to consider doing so. This is due to there being instances where nomination withdrawals have been contested because of business or family disputes.
For consistency with section 4.35(2) of the LG Act, and to prevent arbitrary withdrawals, the CEO may wish to provide 28 days’ notice even though it is not required to do so.
There is a chance that when providing 28 days’ notice, issues could arise for new nominees if their application is lodged less than 28 days before the CEO must compile the roll for an election. In these instances, a CEO could choose to provide a shorter notice period or a body corporate could seek to have their existing electors write to the CEO to advise they are no longer nominated by the company for the purposes of section 4.35(1)(a), allowing for their instant removal.
The following are other relevant provisions of the LG Act and Election Regs to keep in mind in managing the roll.
Forms