Council to provide feedback on the 2024 Local Government Election process to the Electoral Commission of Queensland

All Queensland Local Government elections are coordinated by the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ). Council has already received feedback from the community, which will be shared with the ECQ to inform future practices.

“Goondiwindi Regional Council area residents have collectively been undertaking full postal votes, with no voting booths, for local government elections since amalgamation. For the former Waggamba Shire and Inglewood Shire, it is even longer.

Goondiwindi Regional Council Mayor, the Honourable Cr Lawrence Springborg AM said state and federal government elections are different and do include on-the-day voting. The reason that they are different is that for local government elections, the ratepayer, through Council, bears the cost.

“The ECQ estimates the cost to Goondiwindi Region ratepayers for the 2024 local election at around $45,000. If we were to transition to having more options including additional ECQ Returning Officers, early voting centres, and polling booths, the cost to local ratepayers would be exorbitant. Postal voting is cost effective and convenient and overcomes the challenge of distance from a polling place. 

"The rules state that you must complete your ballot paper by 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 16, 2024, and sign and have a witness sign the declaration on the envelope for your vote to be counted. Your postal vote can, however, be posted after 16 March as long as the ECQ receives your postal vote by 26 March,” said the Mayor.

With the 2024 local government election process ongoing and the counting underway, Council will continue collecting feedback to inform future elections. Feedback to date includes:

• Concerns about Australia Post's timeliness of postal votes arriving in mailboxes;
• ECQ communication around the full postal vote context (15 Queensland councils in 2024 had full postal voting);
• issues with the sealing of the voting ballots; and
• clarification with instructions about the declaration and witness requirements.

If you have additional feedback about the process, we encourage you to contact Council via email mail@grc.qld.gov.au, your local Customer Service Centre at 4671 7400, or in person.