Local government electionsThe Local Government Act 1993 establishes the framework for the conduct of local government elections. The Tasmanian Electoral Commission conducts elections on behalf of councils. A feature of Tasmanian local government elections is the now exclusive use of postal voting. Tasmania was the first state to introduce postal voting for local government elections when it was trialled in the 1994 and 1996 elections. The rate of return of postal votes in these elections was 55% and 60% respectively, which is regarded as a good participation rate for a non-compulsory vote. Under the previous polling booth system the participation rate was generally less than 25%. The State Government therefore legislated to make universal postal voting the only means by which council elections are to be conducted. Part 15 of the Local Government Act 1993 deals with postal voting. Recent elections have been held in October 2000, October 2002, October 2005 and October 2007. Past results are available from the Tasmanian Electoral Commision. The rate of return in these elections was 57.78%, 57.48%, 58.52% and 57.43% respectively. In April 2000 the Local Government Board reported to the Premier on a State-wide review of the method of election for council mayors and deputy mayors. The board recommended that the offices of mayor and deputy mayor for all Tasmanian councils be filled by election of the electors in each municipal area. The State Government accepted the recommendations and amended the Local Government Act 1993 with the changes taking effect on 14 July 2000 and applicable to the October 2000 and subsequent elections. In the lead up to the 2000 elections the Local Government Division and Women Tasmania conducted a "Women into Local Government" project to encourage a greater involvement and representation of women in local government. Prior to the 2002 elections the Local Government Division and the Office of Youth Affairs undertook a project to increase the awareness of local government amongst young people. |
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