Assistance with running elections
Elections for organisations
Elections ACT is available to assist in the conduct of elections for clubs and other organisations, under its mission to provide the ACT community with high quality electoral services that ensure fair and open elections and referendums.
Assistance by Elections ACT
Elections ACT conducts elections and provides other electoral services for organisations under its power to provide services for determined fees in section 7(1)(g) of them Electoral Act 1992. An agreement to provide electoral services may be entered into with ACT organisations who need outside help to complete free and fair elections. An agreement will only be entered into if:
- the organisation is a not-for-profit organisation;
- the organisation has a significant ACT presence;
- the organisation has established election rules for free and fair elections which comply with Elections ACT's principles for conducting elections; and
- Elections ACT has the resources available at the requested time.
Elections ACT will NOT be involved in any election where:
- proxy votes are permitted;
- voting is by a show of hands; or
- the secrecy of the vote may be compromised.
Resources available
The following documents are provided to assist clubs and other organisations to run their own elections. If you use any of these documents, or look at them and decide not to use them, could you please send us an email and let us know what was useful, what was not and provide any other constructive feedback.
These documents are provided free of charge, without licence or warranty, in Microsoft Word and Excel formats. The ACT Electoral Commission (Elections ACT) makes this material available on the understanding that users exercise their own skill and care with respect to its use. The documents may be used as is or modified by the user in any way required. The user is responsible for ensuring that the documents are suitable for the purposes for which they are being used and should carefully evaluate the accuracy, completeness and relevance of the information. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the documents is with the user. Elections ACT takes no responsibility as to the quality and fitness of these documents for a particular purpose. By using this information each user waives and releases Elections ACT to the full extent permitted by law from any and all claims relating to the usage of the material. In no event shall Elections ACT be liable for any incident or consequential damages resulting from use of the material.
Ballot paper and scrutiny spreadsheets:
Ballot papers documents:
- Multi-member election, 3 to an A4 page [PDF 119KB]
- Multi-member election, 2 to an A4 page [PDF 119KB]
- Single-member election, 3 to an A4 page [PDF 123KB]
- Single-member election, 2 to an A4 page [PDF 123KB]
Services available
Elections ACT can provide professional assistance, on a fee-for-service basis, as follows:
- assistance in drafting electoral regulations;
- provision of equipment such as security ballot paper, voting screens, ballot boxes and the like;
- help in counting the result of an election; and
- full conduct of an election.
Contact Elections ACT if you require any of these services.
Principles for conducting elections
An organisation's constitution is the key document establishing the organisation. It should either include rules for conducting an election, or provide the means for the organisation to establish election rules. The rules must be adopted in accordance with the constitution, and the election must be conducted in accordance with both the constitution and any separate rules or regulations to ensure constitutional validity.
If your organisation is to incorporate, documents are available from the ACT Registrar General's Office. Model rules for establishing an organisation can be found as Schedule 1 in the Associations Incorporation Regulation 1991 and can be found at www.legislation.act.gov.au/sl/1991-31/default.asp.
The electoral principles set out below are based on the basic principles used for parliamentary elections in Australia. These principles should be taken into account when establishing election rules.
The election
If not covered in the constitution, the election rules should state what the election is for (for example a committee, a president or the like) and specify the terms of office.
The voting system
A voting system should be chosen and the election rules must be consistent with that system. Whether the election is for a single position (single-member election) (for example, the president) or for a group of positions (multi-member election) (for example, a committee) will determine the voting system to be used.
The returning officer
A returning officer should be appointed for the election. The returning officer is responsible for calling for nominations, conducting the election, counting the votes and declaring the result of the election. The returning officer cannot be a candidate for any position in the election and should be independent of the organisation's management. The election rules should set out details of who can be a returning officer and how that person is appointed.
Scrutineers
Scrutineers should be appointed by candidates to ensure that elections are conducted openly and fairly. Rules are needed to specify the number of scrutineers to be appointed by each candidate, how they are to be appointed and what processes they are allowed to observe. Candidates are generally not allowed to be scrutineers to avoid the possibility of conflicts of interest.
Nominations
The rules should determine the following:
- the process and timeframe for lodging nominations;
- who is eligible to be nominated as a candidate;
- whether a person can be nominated for more than one position; and
- if one person can fill more than one position.
Voting
The rules should set out how voting will be conducted. Voting can be conducted either by attendance or post. Some organisations conduct their elections at their AGMs while others arrange separate polling places. Where voting is by attendance, postal voting may be offered as an option to those unable to attend.
It is important to arrange voting facilities that are accessible to high numbers of voters, to ensure a representative result. Postal voting is becoming more popular as a means of increasing voter turnout. The cost of various options is also an important consideration for some organisations.
If voting by attendance, consider venues, polling days, times and who is eligible to perform polling official duties. (For example it is not appropriate for candidates or people under 18 years of age to mark rolls, hand out ballot papers or count ballot papers.) If voting by post, consider posting times and dates (out and back), what material is to be sent, where it is to be sent and how to store returned votes before polling closes.
Who can vote
The rules must determine who is eligible to vote. Those people eligible to vote should be listed on a roll. The roll is used at an attendance ballot to mark off voters as they are given their ballot paper(s) to prove eligibility and ensure each voter only votes once. The roll should contain the name and address of each voter to assist in identifying people with the same name. The roll can be used as an address base for posting ballot papers if a postal vote is preferred.
Counting votes
The rules must outline procedures for counting votes, including describing ballot paper formality and how the members are to be advised of the results.
Casual vacancies
The rules should state how casual vacancies (vacancies which occur before the next election is due) will be filled.
Determine:
- if another person can be appointed to the position and who has the power to do that; or
- that there should be another election for one position; or
- that a count back of the ballot papers from the last election should determine who has the position.
If casual vacancies are filled by a count back, then ballot papers must be kept until the next election. The rules should specify that the ballot papers must be kept securely and provide details of who is to maintain control of the papers.
A dispute mechanism
A dispute mechanism for the election should be included, with a specified independent person or body given authority to decide disputes on election issues. A period during which a dispute can be lodged should be specified.
Voting systems
There are many different types of voting systems in use around the world. For a brief description and comparison between the main voting systems in use in Australia, view the Voting Systems document [PDF 75KB].
A good voting system:
- provides for frequent elections;
- is based on procedures that are user-friendly;
- allows for all adults to vote, without prejudice against individuals or groups;
- has clear and accepted laws about voting;
- is based upon a secret ballot;
- has a clear and accepted process for counting votes and deciding on a winning candidate;
- incorporates 'one vote, one value';
- has results based on majority rule;
- provides freedom from false, misleading or unfair influence on voters; and
- ensures elections are administered in an impartial way.
More information on different voting systems can be found on the following sites: