Make your vote count this council election

More than 1000 City of Wanneroo voters messed up theirs at the |election two years ago.

They returned their postal voting package with the voter’s declaration slip torn off, missing or unsigned, rendering them void.

‘With voter turnout traditionally quite low in non-compulsory local government elections, the last thing we want is large numbers of people wasting their votes,’ acting WA Electoral |Commissioner Chris Avent has said.

‘That’s enough to change the results in many councils, particularly where there are tight contests.

To help reduce the number of voters mistakenly tearing the declaration slip off the 2013 ballot envelopes, the commission has amended the elector certificate instructions and made them more prominent.

So, vote and get participation rates higher in the non-compulsory voting biennial election (City of Joondalup had the lowest turnout of 23.8 per cent in 2011).

And, having gone to the trouble to vote, don’t waste it by returning an invalid vote in the pre-paid envelope to the commission’s count centre.