Tasmania is leading the pack against other states that have voluntary local government voting, Tasmanian Electoral Commission commissioner Andrew Hawkey says.
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He hopes the state maintains that rate at the upcoming 2018 local government elections.
In the 2014 local government elections Tasmania had a return rate of 54.58 per cent.
“The two other states that don’t have compulsory voting get about 30-35 per cent of votes returned across their state, but we’ve always been in the 50s,” he said. “We want to keep that record and show that what local government does is important and make sure people vote to appreciate what they’re doing.”
Western Australia and South Australia are the only other two states that have non-compulsory local government voting elections.
In the 2014 local government elections, a total of 482 candidates nominated for a total of 263 councillor positions, 91 candidates nominated for 29 mayoral positions and 143 candidates nominated for 29 deputy mayoral positions. A total of 375,355 voters were enrolled.
The last two Tasmanian local government elections recorded the lowest response rates since 1994. In 2011, the response rate was 54.28 per cent, which was the lowest in about 24 years.
The average cost per elector in the 2014 election increased from $3.65 to $5.59, which is an increase of 53.15 per cent since 2011.
The Tasmanian Local Government Report 2014 includes information on participation rate by age, it showed 74 per cent of the voters were aged above 65 years old. The lowest participating age group, with 30 per cent of voters, was people between 20-24.
These figures only reflect House of Assembly voters, not general managers’ roll voters.
In 2014 Flinders Island had the highest voter participation for the North, with more than 80 per cent of enrolled electors voting and only had one vote returned late. City of Launceston council had 405 votes returned late, 603 votes from the council were rejected, giving it the highest rejection rate, of 2.46 per cent, in the North. Meander Valley Council had the lowest participation in the North, with 53.81 per cent of the enrolled electors voting.
NORTHERN COUNCIL NUMBERS
Break O’Day Council
Break O’Day Council had 5462 enrolled electors in 2014.
- 67.94 per cent voted;
- 3711 votes were returned, with 54 votes deemed ineligible;
- There were 17 candidates who stood for council;
- Four people stood to be mayor and;
- Six people contested the deputy mayor position.
Glamorgan Spring Bay Council
Glamorgan Spring Bay Council had 4406 enrolled electors in 2014.
- 75.01 per cent voted;
- 3305 votes were returned, with 43 votes deemed ineligible;
- There were 17 candidates who stood for council;
- Three people stood to be mayor and;
- Five people contested the deputy mayor position.
City of Launceston council
City of Launceston council had 46,363 enrolled electors in 2014.
- 52.88 per cent voted;
- 24,519 votes were returned, with 603 votes deemed ineligible;
- There were 25 candidates who stood for alderman;
- Four people stood to be mayor and;
- Five people contested the deputy mayor position.
Dorset Council
Dorset Council had 5416 enrolled electors in 2014.
- 66.54 per cent voted;
- 3604 votes were returned, with 47 votes deemed ineligible;
- There were 18 candidates who stood for council;
- One person stood to be mayor, however when Barry Jarvis died suddenly, deputy mayor Greg Howard took over and;
- Five people contested the deputy mayor position.
Meander Valley Council
Meander Valley Council had 14,401 enrolled electors in 2014.
- 53.81 per cent voted;
- 7749 votes were returned, with 146 votes deemed ineligible;
- There were 13 candidates who stood for council;
- Two people stood to be mayor and;
- Three people contested the deputy mayor position.
Flinders Island Council
Flinders Island Council had 776 enrolled electors in 2014.
- 81.31 per cent voted;
- 661 votes were returned, with eight votes deemed ineligible;
- There were 13 candidates who stood for council;
- Two people stood to be mayor and;
- Three people contested the deputy mayor position.
Northern Midlands Council
Northern Midlands Council had 9628 enrolled electors in 2014.
- 52.88 per cent voted;
- 5945 votes were returned, with 88 votes deemed ineligible;
- There were 10 candidates who stood for council;
- Two people stood to be mayor and;
- Four people contested the deputy mayor position.
West Tamar Council
West Tamar Council had 16,901 enrolled electors in 2014.
- 57.17 per cent voted;
- 9663 votes were returned, with 180 votes deemed ineligible;
- There were 17 candidates who stood for council;
- Four people stood to be mayor and;
- Three people contested the deputy mayor position.
George Town Council
George Town Council had 5238 enrolled electors in 2014.
- 58.90 per cent voted;
- 3085 votes were returned, with 65 votes deemed ineligible;
- There were 19 candidates who stood for council;
- One person stood to be mayor and;
- Six people contested the deputy mayor position.
TRENDS
Mr Hawkey said there were number of trends with local government elections, including the number of votes returned.
“Generally, with votes returned, the cities sit at the bottom and Flinders Island, King Island and the Tasman councils are almost the top three nearly all the time with with return rates of about 80 per cent.”
He believes this is because of community connection.
“The smaller communities have a better return rate probably because there is generally a closer connection between those elected and are standing rather than the broader community.”
Another trend is less voters in urban areas taking part.
“From previous elections … we do this graph and it shows that small divisions have a larger turnout and the larger divisions have a static turnout,” he said. “It’s like a slippery slide at the pool starts steep, goes woosh and then goes out flat. Time and time again that is the same shape. Each council will bounce around a bit, but in general that’s how it happens.”
Journalist at The Examiner Newspaper
Journalist at The Examiner Newspaper
