Elections

Council elections (local government) in South Australia

The term local government refers to the system in which 68 local councils operate in South Australia. Visit the Local Government Association of South Australia to learn more.

How many councils are in SA?

There are 68 Councils in South Australia however only 67 councils are involved in periodic elections every 4 years in November. Roxby Downs is conducted under their own Administration and not the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999.

How often and when are council elections held?

The Local Government Act 1999 requires council elections to be conducted by full postal ballot every 4 years in November. Supplementary elections may occur for a vacancy that occurs within a Council during the four year period.

Who conducts council elections?

The Electoral Commissioner, as the returning officer, conducts all council elections.

Who is elected at council elections?

Elections are held for the positions of mayor, area councillor, and ward councillors. Councils may have a combination of these positions.

How are members of the council elected?

The electoral system used in council elections in South Australia is the proportional representation electoral system or PR for short. Proportional representation is the term that describes a group of electoral systems used for elections in multi-member electorates to elect candidates who receive a set proportion of the vote. In Australia, these systems are classified into 3 categories - list systems, mixed-member proportional systems and single transferable vote (STV) systems. In South Australia, the electoral system used is the STV type. Under the STV system, each vote can be transferred between candidates in the order of the voter's preferences.

A candidate is elected when their total number of votes equals or exceeds the quota.

How much do council elections cost?

Section 13 of the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999 requires that all costs and expenses incurred by the returning officer in carrying out official duties must be paid from council funds. Accordingly, councils are charged for electoral services on the basis of cost recovery.

The returning officer

Who is the returning officer?

In South Australia, the Electoral Commissioner is the returning officer for all council elections and polls. This includes periodic elections and supplementary elections, which are held when a vacancy occurs for a member in between periodic elections.

What does a returning officer do?

The returning officer is responsible for managing the electoral process and ensuring that the elections are conducted fairly and transparently. For more information about the returning officer's role, refer to the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999.

Who is the deputy returning officer?

The Electoral Commissioner appoints deputy returning officers to undertake important election duties, such as accepting nominations, mailout of ballot material, processing returned postal votes and conducting the count.

The council voters roll

What is the council voters roll?

The chief executive of a council maintains a Council Voters Roll, comprising people who are a non-residential owner, landlord, organisations, business owners or occupiers in the council area. The Council Voters Roll is then complemented by the state electoral (House of Assembly) roll. In every year of a periodic election the Council Voters Roll is purged and the chief executive can accept applications from eligible electors to form the Council Voters Roll. Once this is established, the state House of Assembly roll serves to complete the final Voters Roll.

How do I know if I am on the roll?

If you are correctly enrolled for state elections in South Australia, you are automatically included on the council voters roll and will receive ballot papers through the post. If you are correctly enrolled for state elections in South Australia, you are automatically included on the Voters Roll and will receive ballot papers through the post. If you have further entitlements for other properties as a natural person, body corporate or group you may be eligible for additional entitlements on the Council Voters Roll.

Can I vote if I am not on the Voters Roll?

No. You must be on the Voters Roll by the close of roll date.

How do I check or update my enrolment on the state electoral roll?

If you need to check or update your electoral enrolment you can choose one of the following options:

• Check my enrolment

• Enrol online (first-time voters or to get back on the roll)

• Update my details online (for updates to your address (residential or postal), name or other contact details)

I am a landlord, own a business or investment property in the local council area. Can I vote in that council?

You may be eligible to be on the council voters roll if:

• you are on the state electoral roll and

• a non-residential owner or occupier of additional property in a council area you may be eligible to be on council voters roll for that area, or

• you are the designated person of a body corporate or group which owns or occupies property in the council area.

For more information got to: Voters Roll.

To enrol under these special provisions you need to contact your local council or visit councilelections.sa.gov.au/council-elections.

Candidate nominations

Who can nominate for council elections?

In general, you are eligible to nominate if you are an Australian citizen and an elector for your council area. Visit our council candidates page for detailed information on who can and cannot nominate.

How do I know who has been nominated for my council?

The number and names of each candidate will be on the website from the day nominations open until 24 hours after the close of nominations.

Following nomination close and the ballot paper draw has occurred the names will be published on this website within 24 hours. They will appear in newspapers in South Australia.

What is a candidate profile?

Each candidate must provide a candidate profile of up to 1000 characters with their nomination form. They may also provide a photograph. Candidate profiles are sent to each elector within the ballot pack.

Voting in council elections

Who can vote in council elections?

If you are correctly enrolled on the council voters' roll or for the state House of Assembly roll, you will receive ballot papers through the post. If you are a non-resident owner or occupier of property in a council or are the designated person of a body corporate or group which occupies or owns property in a council area, you may be eligible to vote. 

How can I vote?

Voting in council elections is conducted by post. All election materials, including your ballot papers, are mailed directly to the postal address you provided on the Council Voters Roll or the electoral roll. The mailout of postal voting packs begins after nominations close. For more information visit our voting in council elections page.

Is voting compulsory?

No. Voting in council elections in South Australia is not compulsory.

How do I receive my ballot pack?

The mailout of postal ballot packs begins after nominations close. Check the website for the election timetable. Ballot packs that contain your ballot papers, are mailed directly to the postal address you provided on the voters roll or the electoral roll.

What happens between the close of nominations and issuing the ballot packs?

After the close of nominations, the Electoral Commission of SA begins printing all ballot papers and candidate profiles for each council where there is an election. Council elections are very complex with 67 councils involved and each council has different combinations of mayor, area councillor, and ward councillors. It takes considerable time to coordinate the different combinations of ballot papers and candidate profiles.

What does the ballot pack contain?

The ballot pack contains:

• a ballot paper for each election being contested in the council area for which you are entitled to vote (for example - mayor, area councillors or ward councillors)

• a candidate profile brochure

• a ballot paper envelope (this envelope must be signed by you as the elector to ensure ballot security)

• a reply-paid envelope

• a postal voting guide.

What happens to the envelope that contains my details and ballot papers?

When we receive your ballot paper envelope the barcode is scanned to mark your name off the voters roll. This check is to ensure that you have not already voted.

When the count begins, all flaps (that contain your details and declaration) are removed and separated from the envelopes. Envelopes are then opened and ballot papers are extracted and counted. 

Is my vote kept secret?

Yes. On receipt of your ballot paper envelope, and after it is scanned to mark your name off the voters roll. Declaration envelopes are securely stored until the commencement of the scrutiny and count.  Electoral officers separate the flap (that contains your details and declaration) from the envelope itself.  All envelopes containing ballot papers, are opened separately and ballot papers extracted and counted for each election. This ensures that your vote is kept secret.

Scrutiny and count

What happens after the close of voting?

Once voting closes, the Electoral Commission of South Australia accounts for all returned ballot packs. The preliminary scrutiny and count to begin.

What checks are undertaken?

When you vote, you put your ballot papers into a declaration envelope which needs to be signed before you place it in the reply-paid envelope. To ensure that each elector only votes once, the elector’s roll number on each returned declaration envelope flap is scanned. Ballot paper envelopes received throughout the course of the election are checked daily by electoral officers to determine whether they can be accepted or rejected. Following the check, all envelopes are stored securely until the start of the preliminary scrutiny and count.

When are ballot papers removed from envelopes?

Ballot papers are not removed from envelopes until the preliminary scrutiny and count begin.

Following the close of voting, electoral officers undertake 2 major processes. Firstly, the preliminary scrutiny involves the removal of declaration flaps from envelopes after checks have identified any envelopes that are ineligible to be included in the count (for example, if they have not been signed by the elector). Once the declaration flaps are removed from envelopes, the envelopes are opened and ballot papers removed. The ballot papers are then checked for formality and counted.

For more information, see our scrutiny, count and results page.

When are the elections finalised?

Elections are finalised when the results are officially declared. Once all ballot papers for each council are counted, the deputy returning officer provisionally declares the results. If no requests for re-counts are received within 72 hours, the results are officially declared by the returning officer. Final results are published in newspapers across South Australia, on this website, and on the Local Government Association's website once all elections are finalised.