Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by Councillor Kok -
It is resolved that:
(A) Council note:
(i) at the 2016 Local Government Election the City of Sydney had 59.98 per cent turnout of eligible voters;
(ii) in 2016, 55.8 per cent of residents in the City of Sydney were renters. The nature of renting leads to great mobility amongst tenants meaning that people are often moving into, out of and within the City of Sydney, leading to electoral addresses commonly being out of date;
(iii) the City’s website has information on the 2021 election, as well as links to the NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC) and Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to enable residents to check their enrolment details, noting that help in a range of languages is available on the page;
(iv) that prior to the delay of the 2021 local government election, a flyer encouraging residents to check their enrolment details with the AEC, and reminding non-residents to apply online, has been distributed to every property in the Local Government Area; and
(v) that the NSWEC/AEC are responsible for the maintenance of the residential electoral roll;
(B) the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:
(i) continue to provide information about the 2021 Local Government Election (reminder that voting is compulsory/links to appropriate NSWEC/AEC material) via the City’s communication channels;
(ii) distribute a further flyer reminding residents that voting in the 2021 local government election is compulsory and informing residents of where they can find information about postal voting, iVote, prepoll and polling day booths; and
(iii) translate this flyer into community languages; and
(C) Council approve up to $35,000 from the 2021/22 General Contingency Fund for this distribution and translation.
The motion was carried on the following show of hands –
Ayes (7) The Chair (the Lord Mayor), Councillors Kok, Miller, Scott, Scully, Thalis and Vithoulkas
Noes (3) Councillors Chung, Forster and Phelps.
Motion carried.
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