Division 5 Nominations for the Council

81B   Nomination of Council candidates

(1)  Every person enrolled as an elector for a district shall be qualified to be nominated as a candidate for a periodic Council election, unless disqualified under the Constitution Act 1902 or this Act.

(2)  Before, and in order that, any person may be a candidate at any periodic Council election, the person must be nominated by:

(a)  the registered officer of a registered party that has endorsed the person for the election, or

(b)  not fewer than 15 persons each of whose names is on a roll.

(3)  Every such nomination shall be made by delivering to the Electoral Commissioner a nomination paper at some time after the issue of the writ and before noon on the day of nomination and the Electoral Commissioner shall, if required to do so, give a receipt for it.

(3A)  A nomination paper in which the candidate is nominated by the registered officer is to be in the following form, namely:

I, the person whose name appears on this form as the registered officer of a registered party that has endorsed the candidate, do hereby nominate for election to the Legislative Council the following person:

*Name in full of person nominated	Date of birth	Place of residence as enrolled	**Signature of person nominated

      * Underline surname.
** The signature of the person nominated must appear opposite the person’s name to signify the person’s consent to nomination and to certify that the place of residence stated opposite the person’s name is the person’s place of residence as enrolled.

Dated this                 day of                 20  .

Name in full of registered officer	Name of party	Signature of Registered officer

(4)  A nomination paper in which the candidate is nominated by electors is to be in the following form, namely:

We, the persons whose names appear on this form as nominators, being persons each of whose names is on a roll, do hereby nominate for election to the Legislative Council the following person:

*Name in full of person nominated	Date of birth	Place of residence as enrolled	**Signature of person nominated

      * Underline surname.
** The signature of the person nominated must appear opposite the person’s name to signify the person’s consent to nomination and to certify that the place of residence stated opposite the person’s name is the person’s place of residence as enrolled.

Dated this                 day of                 20  .

Name in full of each nominator (Not fewer than 15)	Place of residence as enrolled	Occupation	Electoral district	Signature of each nominator

(5)  No elector shall nominate more than one candidate.

(6)  No person, unless nominated in accordance with the requirements of this section, shall be deemed to be a candidate at a periodic Council election.

(7)  Where a candidate at a periodic Council election dies, after being nominated and before noon on the day of nomination for the election, the day named as the day of nomination for the election shall be taken to be the day next succeeding the day so named.

(8)  As soon as practicable after a nomination paper for a candidate is delivered to the Electoral Commissioner under this section, the Electoral Commissioner must cause the following details relating to the nomination to be displayed on the Commission’s internet website:

(a)  the candidate’s name,

(b)  the suburb, town or other locality of the place of residence as enrolled of the candidate (as stated on the nomination paper).

(9)  Where two or more candidates are included in a group, the names and other details required by subsection (8) to be exhibited on the Commission’s internet website are to be displayed in the order referred to in section 81C (2) in which they are included in that group.

81C   Grouping of candidates

(1)  Two or more candidates nominated for a periodic Council election may, in the prescribed form and before noon on the day of nomination for that election, claim:

(a)  to have their names included in a group in the ballot papers to be used in that election, and

(b)  to have their names included in that group in the order specified in that claim.

(1A)  A claim under subsection (1) may also include a request for a group voting square for the group on the ballot papers to be used in the election concerned, but only if there are at least 15 candidates in the group at the close of nominations for the election.

(2)  Subject to subsections (3), (4) and (5), candidates nominated for a periodic Council election who have under subsection (1) made a claim referred to in that subsection shall, for the purposes of that election, be included in a group in the order specified in the claim.

(3)  Two or more candidates who have made a claim under subsection (1) may, in the prescribed form and before noon on the day of nomination referred to in that subsection, withdraw that claim.

(4)  A claim under subsection (1) is of no force or effect if:

(a)  the name of any candidate included in the claim is included in any other claim under that subsection, or

(b)  the nomination of any candidate whose name is included in the claim is withdrawn under section 81G.

(5)  Where a claim is made under subsection (1) in respect of a periodic Council election and any of the persons who made the claim:

(a)  dies before the making of the declaration of the persons elected at that election,

(b)  is, before the making of that declaration, declared by any court to be incapable of being elected at that election, or

(c)  is a person whose nomination is void under section 81D,

      then:

(d)  where there are 2 or more other persons who made that claim, the group shall thereafter consist of the remainder of those persons only, or

(e)  where there is only 1 other person who made that claim, the claim shall thereafter be of no force or effect.

(6)  The candidates who are included in a group for a periodic Council election and who have duly requested a group voting square for the election, are required to nominate, for the purposes of section 129EB, one other group of candidates in the election for whom a second preference vote is taken to be recorded on all ballot papers on which only a first preference vote is recorded for the first-mentioned group if that group ceases to have 15 candidates because of the operation of subsection (5).

(7)  The following provisions apply to nominations under subsection (6):

(a)  A nomination may be made at the time the candidates request a group voting square for the election or within 24 hours after the close of nominations for the election. However, the Electoral Commissioner may accept a late nomination so long as it is made before the day for the taking of the poll in the election.

(b)  A nomination may be made on behalf of the candidates in the group by the first candidate in the group or by the registered officer of a registered party that has endorsed all or any of the candidates for the election.

(c)  A group of candidates is not eligible to be nominated unless the candidates in that group have duly requested a group voting square for the election.

(d)  The Electoral Commissioner is to cause notice of the nominations to be published, at least one week before the day for the taking of the poll in the election, in one or more newspapers circulating throughout New South Wales.

(e)  Once a nomination has been lodged with the Electoral Commissioner in respect of the election, the nomination may not be changed, nor may a further nomination be made for the election by or on behalf of any of the candidates concerned.

81D   Dual nominations

If at the close of nominations for a periodic Council election a person is nominated for that election more than once or for that election and for any election for a district each of those nominations is void.

81E   Member of Commonwealth Parliament ineligible for Council

A member of the Parliament of the Commonwealth shall be incapable of being nominated as a candidate for, or elected as a member of, the Council.

81F   Deposit for periodic Council election

(1)  A nomination shall not be valid unless at the time of the delivery of the nomination paper the person nominated or some person on his or her behalf deposits with the Electoral Commissioner the sum of $500 in cash or in a cheque drawn by an authorised deposit-taking institution.

(1A)  However, the amount of the deposit for a candidate included in a group comprising more than 10 candidates (but not more than 21 candidates) is $5,000 divided by the number of candidates in that group.

(2)  The deposit shall be retained pending the election.

(3)  The deposit is to be returned if:

(a)  the candidate is elected, or

(b)  at least one of the candidates in the group in which the candidate is included is elected, or

(c)  the total number of votes polled as first preference votes in the candidate’s favour or in favour of the members of the group in which the candidate is included is at least 4 per cent of the total number of first preference votes polled in the election, or

(d)  the candidate dies before the date of the election, or

(e)  the candidate withdraws his or her name from nomination under section 81G.

(4)  The deposit that is to be returned under subsection (3) is to be returned:

(a)  if the candidate is included in a group that consists only of persons who belong to the same registered party—to the registered officer of the party, or

(b)  if the candidate is included in a group that does not consist only of persons who belong to the same registered party and all the members of the group have authorised the same person to receive their deposits—to that person, or

(c)  in any other case:

(i)  to the candidate (or to some person authorised by the candidate to receive it), unless subparagraph (ii) applies, or

(ii)  to the candidate’s personal representatives, if the candidate died before the date of the election.

(5)  (Repealed)

(6)  In any other case the deposit shall be forfeited to Her Majesty.

81G   Withdrawal of nomination for a periodic Council election

(1)  Subject to subsection (2), any candidate for a periodic Council election may withdraw his or her name from nomination by delivering a notice under his or her hand to the Electoral Commissioner before noon on the day of nomination for that election.

(2)  Where two or more candidates are included in a group, any of those candidates may not, under subsection (1), withdraw his or her name from nomination except with the consent of the others.

81H   Proceedings after close of nominations

(1)  If at noon on the day of nomination there are not more than 21 candidates for election at a periodic Council election the Electoral Commissioner shall at that time and at the place appointed for the receipt of the nomination papers publicly declare those candidates to be duly elected and shall publish the declaration in some newspaper circulating in the State and return the writ indorsed according to that declaration.

(2)  If after noon on the day of nomination and before the day for the taking of the poll for a periodic Council election any candidate dies and there are not more than 21 candidates remaining, the Electoral Commissioner shall forthwith publicly declare the remaining candidates to be duly elected and shall publish the declaration in some newspaper circulating in the State and return the writ indorsed according to that declaration.

(3)  Subject to subsection (2), if at noon on the day of nomination there are more than 21 candidates for election at a periodic Council election a poll shall take place on the day named in the writ for that election and the Electoral Commissioner shall, at noon on the day of nomination and at the place appointed for the receipt of the nomination papers, publicly announce that a poll will be so taken and the names of the persons who have become candidates, that announcement specifying the names of any candidates who are included in a group, and shall also forthwith publish in some newspaper circulating in the State a like announcement, including a statement specifying the date of the poll.

(4)  As soon as practicable after making an announcement referred to in subsection (3), the Electoral Commissioner shall notify the returning officer for each electoral district:

(a)  that a poll for a periodic Council election shall take place on the day named in the writ for that election, and

(b)  of the particulars required by section 83B to be printed on the ballot papers and of the manner in which those particulars are to be so printed.

81I   (Repealed)