Elections

Enrolling to Vote as a Resident

You are automatically enrolled to vote if you are on the State Electoral Roll as at close of enrollments. If you are not already on the State Electoral Roll and meet the eligibility criteria, or if you have changed address recently, you must complete an enrollment form.

You can check your enrollment online here, or contact the WA Electoral Commission on 13 63 06.

You can learn more about enrollment here.

Non-Resident Owner and Occupiers

People who own or occupy property within a local government district can apply to their local government to be included on the roll as an owner/occupier, as long as they are eligible electors. A body corporate may apply to have up to two eligible electors to be included on the owner/occupier roll.

All eligible electors are allowed to vote once in any district or ward for which they are enrolled. If a person lives within one local district or ward and owns or occupies property in a different district or ward then they may be entitled to a vote in both areas provided they are enrolled for those addresses. For more information or to enrol as an owner/occupier, contact the Shire. To apply you will need to complete and return this form to the Shire before rolls close.

If you are not sure if you are on the owner/occupier roll, we strongly encourage you to contact the Shire to confirm your eligibility.

How to Vote

On polling day (Saturday 16 October 2021), or beforehand for early voting, electors go to designated polling places (the Shire Administration Office on Victoria Street, Mingenew) to cast their vote. Polling places are open from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. If an elector can’t attend a polling place on polling day, they can apply for an absent, early or postal vote. To apply for postal voting papers, download and complete this form.

Own Property Outside the Shire of Mingenew?

If you also own or occupy property in another district you may eligible to vote in that district. For example, if you own property in the Shire of Irwin, you may eligible to vote in the Irwin district. Contact the relevant Local Government to query your enrolment status and make any necessary applications.

At the Shire’s August 2020 Ordinary Council Meeting, Council voted to abolish the Town and Rural Wards. Mingenew is now a single electoral district.

Councillors are elected to represent the interest of all electors and residents and provide leadership and guidance to the community. They play an important community leadership role and create policies and resolve decisions that the Council makes about what happens locally. Councillors generally do not have any authority to act or make decisions as individuals. They are members of an elected body that makes decisions on behalf of a local government through a formal meeting process.

If you haven’t already, we recommend you have a look at the Minutes from past Council meetings to see what decisions Council makes or come along to a Council meeting to see one in person; Council meets on the third Wednesday of every month (except January).

For more information, check out these fact sheets from the Department of Local Government Spot and Cultural Industries:

• The Role of a Council Member, read article
• Council Members Responsibilities and Rights, read article
• What Happens When You Become a Council Member, read article

If you think you might be interested in the role, have a look at this video from the WA Local Government Association.

To be eligible, you must:

• be 18 years of age or older; and
• be an elector of the district (if you are only an elector because you are a nominee of a body corporate then you are not eligible to stand for council).

You are not eligible if you:

• are a member of State or Federal Parliament;
• are an insolvent under administration;
• are serving a prison sentence for a crime;
• have been convicted of a serious local government offence within the last five years (unless the court has waived the disqualification);
• have been convicted on indictment of an offence for which the indictable penalty was or included imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for more than five years;
• are a member of another council;
• are subject to a court order disqualifying you from being a council member because you have misapplied local government funds or property;
• are on the local electoral roll as the nominee of a body corporate;
• are currently disqualified by the State Administrative Tribunal from holding office as a member of a council.

Before Nominating

Prior to nominating in local government elections, all candidates will be required to complete the online candidate induction.

The candidate induction has been developed to assist people who are thinking about becoming a local government councillor to better understand the role. It outlines the responsibilities of council and councillors as well as election and campaigning rules. The induction will also serve as a refresher to those who have previously been a councillor and informs them of any recent changes to their obligations in the role.

The candidate induction is free and is available on the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries’ website. For those who do not have access to the internet, please visit the Shire offices to complete the module online. It is important that all prospective candidates complete the registration form at the end of the candidate induction. This will ensure your completion is recorded by the department and you can retain the confirmation email for your records. The reference number provided with this email, will need to be recorded on the candidate nomination form.

All candidates nominating for council will be required to declare that they have competed the candidate induction at the time of nomination, which will be verified with the Department.

Please contact the Shire’s Governance & Community Manager on (08)9928 1102 if you wish to find out more.

You can obtain a nomination form from the Shire Office, 21 Victoria Street Mingenew, or download a copy by clicking on this link Form 8 – Nomination for Election by Candidate to nominate yourself, or use Form 9 -Nomination for Election by Agent to nominate someone else.

In the meantime, you can find further information about candidacy here and watch this webinar from the WA Local Government Association prepared especially for prospective elected members from the previous election.

Candidate Information Pack

Form 8 – Nomination for Election by Candidate

Form 9 -Nomination for Election by Agent

Form 9A – Disclosure of Gifts

Code of Conduct for Council Members, Committee Members and Candidates

It is important that Candidates are aware of their obligations.

The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries’ Induction and Fact Sheets

1. Mandatory Local Government Candidate Induction
2. Local Government Elections Standing for Council (Candidate Information Session)
3. An Introduction to Local Government
4. The Role of a council member
5. Nominating to be a council member
6. Election campaigning
7. Conduct of local government elections
8. Electoral gifts and crowd funding
9. What happens when you become a council member

The Shire encourages you to become familiar with a number of strategic documents to be better prepared for the role and dealing with local constituents.

Strategic Community Plan 2019-2029

Corporate Business Plan 2019-2023 July 2021 Reviewed