The New South Wales election is less than a month away and will be held on Saturday 23 March 2019.
All 93 seats in the Assembly are up for grabs, as are 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council. The term of the Assembly is fixed at four years. Members of the Council serve eight year terms meaning only half of the House is up for election.
Voting is compulsory in New South Wales and the ways through which the Assembly and Council are elected differ.
In the Assembly members are elected via a preferential voting system. To gain a seat a candidate requires the support of at least half of an electorate following the distribution of preferences. In the Council members are elected through proportional representation, so that the number of seats won by a party is effectively proportionate to the number of votes received across the entire state.
The party or coalition of parties holding the majority of seats in the Assembly forms government.
There are a number of key dates to note as we march towards election day on 23 March. The dates include:
- 1 March 2019: The Legislative Assembly expires and the caretaker period commences
- 4 March 2019: The writs are issued
- 6 March 2019: Candidate nominations close
- 7 March 2019: Assembly and Council ballot paper draws
- 11 March 2019: Early voting period opens
- 22 March 2019: Early voting period closes
- 23 March 2019: Election day
- 3 April 2019: Estimated Assembly declaration of results
- 12 April 2019: Estimated Council declaration of results.
A comprehensive list of key dates, information about candidate nomination and party registration, as well as details about where to vote is accessible on the NSW Electoral Commission’s 2019 NSW State election website.
Stay tuned over the coming weeks to learn about a variety of election topics. This includes: the issuing of the writs; the ballot paper draws for the Assembly and Council; voting above and below the line for the Council; and how the votes are counted.