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A lesson in signing up as a council candidate
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The City of Ryde is holding a by-election on October 15 to elect one councillor for its West Ward.
While that information has nothing to do with the Central Coast, it does mean a press release from the NSW Elections Commission includes links to information that potential council candidates might want to read.
FIrst thing it shows is how quickly an election can be organised.
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Nominations for candidates who plan to contest the City of Ryde by-election will open Monday, 5 September and close at 12 noon on Wednesday, 14 September 2022.
NSW Electoral Commissioner, John Schmidt said nomination forms will be available from elections.nsw.gov.au from Monday, 5 September.
While the Commissioner is quoted as encouraging Ryde people to start preparing their nominations, I’m suggesting Central Coast people thinking of standing in 2024 could follow the Ryde process to see what’s involved.
For example, late corrections can’t be made to nomination papers even if the corrections are lodged before the closing date.
Good to know.
Measure twice, cut once.
Mr Schmidt said the NSW Electoral Commission website contains lots of helpful information explaining how to become a candidate.
“Potential candidates can familiarise themselves with election processes and obligations by following the “Six steps to being a candidate” available at elections.nsw.gov.au, he said.
“This information covers political donations and electoral expenditure, registering as a candidate, how to register electoral material and more.”
Candidates have to be enrolled in their local government area.
The Central Coast is scheduled to hold elections for councillors in September 2024 when the rest of the State holds the four-yearly local government elections.
The Coast has been under administration since October 2020 when the councillors were suspended.
Six months later a public inquiry was held into the councillors’ role in the council’s financial crisis and in March of this year, the Minister declared their positions vacant.
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