A record number of Cowra residents eligible to vote at last Saturday’s Cowra Council by-election lodged informal votes or didn’t bother to vote at all.
When counting stopped on Saturday night, including pre-poll votes, more than 10 per cent of those who had their names marked off the electoral roll, had lodged informal votes.
The NSW Electoral Commission results website reveals that only 6700 voting forms had been handed to eligible voters.
Seven hundred and twenty seven of these ballot papers were declared informal, 273 more than the votes lodged for the candidate who finished last in the ballot.
Many more eligible voters failed to vote at all with the Electoral Commision website revealing there are 9,791 eligible voters in Cowra Shire.
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Two Cowra residents the Cowra Guardian spoke to, who had lodged informal votes, said they did not want to vote for any of the four candidates, but at the same time did not want to be fined.
At the 2021 Cowra Council elections 8244 voters lodged a vote, for a 85 per cent turnout, with 480 informal ballot papers discarded from the count.
At the prior Council elections in 2016, 7563 voters took part in the election, 308 placing informal votes as they left the election booths.
Three hundred and ninety six informal votes were noted in the 2012 election.
Residents who failed to have their name marked off the electoral roll face a fine of $55.
The NSW Electoral Commission will send non-voters notification of the fine by most.
If you didn’t have your name marked off the roll you must respond within 28 days of the issue date of the notice with a valid reason for failing to vote
