Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by
Councillor Ellsmore –
It is resolved that:
(A)
Council
note:
(i)
that
Council endorsed the Non-Residential Register Methodology and Plan 2017-2020 at
its meeting on 18 September 2017;
(ii)
the
City of Sydney Act 1988 requires the Chief Executive Officer of the City of
Sydney to: keep and maintain an accurate register of all persons with possible
entitlement to vote at City local government elections as non-residents as well
as use the register to produce up-to-date electoral rolls of entitled
non-residents for verification by the NSW Electoral Commissioner;
(iii)
these
obligations are continuous, and the Chief Executive Officer must maintain and
regularly revise the register to ensure it is accurate;
(iv) the City reviewed the establishment of the
non-residential register and delivery of the non-residential rolls for the
local government election on 10 September 2016. The purpose of the review was
to identify good practice and potential improvements to determine a strategy to
maintain an accurate register as required by the legislation;
(v)
as of
November 2021, the NSW Electoral Commission requested a meeting with the City
and the Office of Local Government post-election to review current issues with
the legislation;
(vi)
key
issues identified to premise this discussion were around observed practice
where multi-corporation groups with limited eligible company officers have
added new directors and company secretaries prior to the election, possibly to
maximise their voting rights. The Australian Securities and Investments
Commission (ASIC), the Office of Local Government and the NSW Electoral
Commission have been all been notified of this practice;
(vii) in 2020 it was deemed that the production of non-resident electoral
rolls as at 4 September 2020 was a new requirement following changes to the
Electoral Funding Act 2018;
(viii)
feedback
from the Office of Local Government and the NSW Electoral Commission suggests
the legislation will remain ongoing, it is unlikely to be introduced elsewhere
and there may be an opportunity to negotiate changes to the legislation which
will reduce the risk of challenge to future elections;
(ix)
under
this legislation the City can issue penalty notices to persons who do not
respond to requests for information. Currently, the position of entitled
non-residents who live outside NSW remains unresolved;
(x)
based
on data provided in November 2020, the NSW Electoral Commission verified
non-residents who are enrolled outside NSW; have increased the non-resident
rolls by 8.5 per cent. As of November 2020 non-residential electors now
represent over 27 per cent of the total roll;
(xi)
in May
2021, the NSW Electoral Commission confirmed that some services they provided
to residents would not be offered to the City’s non-residents, despite both
groups having the same compulsory voting requirements. Similarly, election
reminder services would not include non-resident details. Feedback received
during the 2016 election suggested that non-residents were surprised and
frustrated by this different level of service;
(xii)
as of
May 2021, the issue remained that the first time some non-residents who were
enrolled outside NSW would learn of their obligation to vote when they received
an Apparent Failure to Vote notice;
(xiii)
key
issues and limitations of the current electoral voting system include:
(a)
difficulty
in keeping register accurate at all times as required by legislation;
(b)
it is
impossible for the City to meet legislated requirements for by-elections;
(c)
corporation
entitlement is unclear;
(d)
the
City cannot penalise persons who it believes are occupiers or ratepaying
lessees if they do not respond to requests for information because, under the existing
legislation, the City cannot know whether persons meet the criteria to be
ratepaying lessees or occupiers until they have responded;
(e)
nominees
(deemed or otherwise) may not know that they are required to vote;
(f)
the NSW
Electoral Commission will not give the City the age of entitled persons as it only knows their date of birth;
(g)
voting
is not compulsory for all other NSW Councils’ non-residents;
(h)
the
opportunity for vote stacking where corporations and natural persons jointly
own/occupy/lease rateable properties;
(i)
the
City is not provided with explicit protection from breaches of privacy
legislation;
(j)
lack of
a workable appeal process for inclusion or omission from the rolls;
(k)
there
is a lack of clarity regarding who should receive an enrolment letter;
(l)
the maintenance
of the register is complex and challenging. The legislation is impractical for
the City to comply with in places; and
(m)
the
City must rely on Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) data
for company officer mailing addresses, which is often incorrect; and
(B)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested to make a submission to the Inquiry into
the Conduct of Elections in New South Wales on behalf of the City of Sydney
reiterating the City’s concerns about the City of Sydney Business and
Non-Residential Roll.
Carried unanimously, as part of an in globo
motion.
X086655