If the thought of voting in the upcoming City of Moreton Bay local council election has you filled with dread, you might actually be one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to vote.
A total of five divisional areas don’t have to head along to the polls on March 16. At the close of nominations on February 13, the council’s mayor was unopposed, along with councillors in divisions 1, 4, 7, 9 and 11.
State-wide, a total of 15 mayoral positions and 46 councillor positions were uncontested, with the City of Moreton Bay Council the most populous locality impacted. Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen said as a result, electors in those divisional areas will not be required to vote at all in this election.
“There are a significant number of City of Moreton Bay Council electors who won’t need to vote for mayor or councillor,” Mr Vidgen said. “Of the council’s 345,350 electors, there will be just under 140,000 who won’t need to vote – that’s 40.5% of the total number of electors.
“It’s important for those electors in the remaining divisions of the City of Moreton Bay Council to be aware that they still need to vote for their councillor and that voting is compulsory in local government elections.
“If electors don’t know which divisional area they are in, now is the time for them to head to our website to look this up so they know whether they need to vote in these elections.”
Mr Vidgen said the situation had created a number of flow-on effects for the City of Moreton Bay, which is Queensland’s third largest council.
“Firstly, we won’t need to open polling booths in those five divisional areas, so have made the decision to close 25 booths that would have catered to electors in those divisions, along with one early voting centre at Bongaree.”
The ECQ will be undertaking a range of awareness activities in the lead-up to election day to communicate information to electors about the changes, including via the website and through email, SMS, local advertising and engagement activities.
The local government elections will be held on Saturday March 16. For up-to-date information visit https://www.ecq.qld.gov.au
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