Eligible voters in NSW will head to the polls on Saturday, March 25, to choose their representatives for the next Parliament. Voting is compulsory for everyone on the electoral roll.
Led by incumbent premier Dominic Perrottet, the Coalition government is seeking to win a fourth consecutive term in office.
Mr Perrottet’s main opponent for the top position is Labor leader Chris Minns, who will be contesting his first ballot after taking the party reins in June 2021.
The Parliament of NSW uses a ‘bicameral’ or ‘two house’ system, composed of the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and Legislative Council (upper house).
electing a member to represent them in the Legislative Assembly.
The Legislative Council consists of 42 members, and at each state election, 21 members are elected to serve two terms of Parliament - that is, a maximum period of eight years.
If circumstances make it challenging for a voter to cast their ballot in person, they may be eligible to .
Postal vote applications must be received by the NSW Electoral Commission by 5pm on March 20.
Completed ballots and postal vote certificates must be received by the NSW Electoral Commission .
Chris Minns took on the NSW Labor leadership in June 2021. Source: AAP / BIANCA DE MARCHI/AAPIMAGE
iVote, the online voting system, will not be utilised this election.
Voting on election day – March 25
More than 2450 voting centres will be set up in churches, schools, community centres, and other venues across NSW.
These centres will open on the day from 8am to 6pm.
Upon entering a voting centre, staff will ask a voter their name and address, their electorate, and if they have already voted in the election.
Once details have been confirmed, they will be given ballot papers. If staff can’t find a voter’s details on the electoral roll, they will need to complete a
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi
Voting is compulsory
In NSW, eligible and enrolled voters are required to vote in all federal, state and council elections. Those who fail to do so may face a .
Voting if you're homeless, disabled, interstate or overseas
will still be able to enrol as voters.
If individuals in these categories are unable to vote, they will not be fined.
need assistance, they can take a friend or relative who can help them cast their votes or they can seek assistance from election staff.
If voting in person is difficult, they can opt for early voting, postal voting, declared facility voting, or telephone voting.
or by postal vote.
during the election period will need to vote by post.
Information in multiple languages
The NSW Electoral Commission provides information on how to enrol and vote, and about candidates in
.
There will there be onsite multilingual staff or volunteers at early voting and election day booths wearing badges indicating what languages they can provide support in.
The commission offers a free telephone interpreter service for languages not included on the list.
Election staff can connect voters with the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) if they need additional language support at the voting centre.
To mitigate the risk of false information about elections circulating in the community, the NSW Electoral Commission is running a
that tracks and rebuts misleading and false statements about the electoral process.
or call 1300 135 736.
