Registered voters will be choosing their new Northern Beaches Council in exactly one month from today, on Saturday 4 December. Here’s the latest news about it, how it all works, and some information about how you can now cast your vote online or via pre-poll ‘thanks’ to COVID-19.
What election is this?
The election will determine the new council for the Northern Beaches local government area.
Northern Beaches Council comprises five wards (Pittwater, Frenchs Forest, Manly, Curl Curl, Narrabeen) with three councillors elected to each of the five wards. The mayor is elected by the Council every two years.
The Ballot Draw
There was a minor four hour delay, allowing most in the room to delve past the “why are you standing” and into the far reaches of their childhood memories, but at about 2pm today the NSW Electoral Commission was finally given the go ahead to conduct the ballot draw for the local government election to be held on 4 December.
The ballot draw determines which candidates are placed where on the paper— depending on who you ask, but Group A is usually prime position.
Aside from larger incidents and covid cases where the whole LGA is covered, our main focus is on the Manly and Curl Curl wards, and we will be providing information about the groups contending for these seats in the lead up to polling day via a designated “election” page.
The order of the ballot for these wards were:
CURL CURL
Group A: Labor, led by Brandt Clifford
Group B: Your Northern Beaches Independent Team, led by incumbent Sue Heins
Group C: Greens, led by Kristyn Maree Glanville
Group D: Liberals, led by incumbent David Walton
And
MANLY WARD
Group A: Liberal, led by Georgia Ryburn
Group B: Your Northern Beaches Independent Team, led by incumbent Sarah Grattan
Group C: Good for Manly, led by incumbent Candy Bingham
Group D: Independent Group, John Kelly
Group E: Labor, led by Sam Pigram
Group F: Greens, led by Pamela Dawes
If you would like to see how other wards placed, you can visit this article by the Northern Beaches Review.
Not sure which ward you’re in? You can check your details here, but be sure to put your exact information in including your middle name, if you have one. It will tell you in which ward you will need to vote in (look for “Local Ward” – in our case, it’s Manly Ward, see below).
UPDATED: It may be difficult to access your preferred party’s How to Vote card on the day, so it’s good to turn up at the polling booth well informed of which people or party you want to vote for.
Want to avoid the crowds on polling day?
The NSW Electoral Commission will now be permitting “iVotes”, which will allow eligible people to cast a vote online or over the phone. Applications for using iVote in the 2021 Local Government elections opens on 22 November 2021. You can learn more about the iVote system on the NSW Electoral Commissions FAQ.
For this election, anyone can choose to vote via postal vote, and you can do so by applying here.
If you deem attending the polling booth on Election Day a risk to your health because of COVID-19, or meet other criteria, you can also elect to pre-poll. On election day, if your Council is divided into wards you must vote at a polling place within your enrolled ward.
For all other election information visit the NSW Electoral Commission website.
