Elections and Voting FAQs

Saturday 21 October 2023.

The elections will be conducted by the Western Australian Electoral Commission (WAEC).

There are four vacancies on Council:

• East Ward: Two Councillors
• West Ward: One Councillor
• Central Ward: One Councillor

A four-year term applies to each.

Yes, view ward map.

The Returning Officer is Tracey Elliott. 
Mobile: 0456 395 428
Email: [email protected]

Residents who live in the City of Cockburn who are registered on the Electoral Roll, and non-resident owners or occupiers of rateable property in the City of Cockburn district.

Yes. Eligible non-resident property owners and occupiers and residents of the district can enrol to vote.

A non-resident owner is a person who owns rateable land within the City of Cockburn district but is not a resident.

A non-resident occupier is a person, living outside the City of Cockburn district, who leases or occupies rateable property within the City.

The deadline was the 25th August 2023.

You can check your enrolment status online.

A person may have their name on the roll only once for each ward regardless of the number of properties owned or occupied.

If I own multiple properties in the City, can I vote more than once?

Candidate nominations open on Thursday 31 August 2023 and close on Thursday 7 September 2023 at 4pm. 

To stand for election as a Councillor, you must:

• Be 18 years of age or older
• Be an Australian citizen or a British subject prior to 26 January 1984
• Be an elector of the City of Cockburn district
• Have completed the mandatory Local Government Candidate Induction.

You are not eligible to nominate for council 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 5  years, (unless the court has waived the disqualification)
• Have been convicted on indictment of an offence for which the penalty was or included imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for more than 5 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
• Propose standing for 2 positions on council (unless you are standing for mayor or president as well as councillor)
• Are currently disqualified by the State Administrative Tribunal from holding office as a member of a council.

Refer to our dedicated web page: Nominate to become a Councillor.

​No, voting in local government elections is not compulsory in Western Australia.

Voting packs will be sent out in late September. Packs can be put in the mail or handed in at the City’s Administration building at 9 Coleville Crescent, Spearwood up until 6pm on election day.

6pm on Saturday, 21 October 2023.

As it is a postal vote, the only way is to arrange for someone to post your voting pack to you.

As long as you are registered on the Electoral Roll, you can collect a new voting pack from the City's Administration Office.

In 2023, local government elections in WA will move to optional preferential voting. It is similar to how voting is done in State and Federal elections.  

Under the optional preferential voting system, voters number candidates in the order of their preference. You don’t have to number all the boxes if you don’t want to.

You have the choice to:

• Vote for one candidate - by putting a 1 next to their name
• Vote for some candidates - by numbering several candidates in the order of your preference
• Vote for all candidates - in the order of your preference.

The votes are counted after 6pm on Saturday, 21 October 2023.

No. The Mayor is currently serving until 2025.