Meet all the lead Candidates for the Manly Ward at a Candidate Forum at the meeting 7pm on 19 Aug 24 at the Manly Yacht Club.

Voting is compulsory at NSW Local Government elections and the NSW Electoral Commission has been encouraging voters to check enrolment details ahead of these Local Government elections on the 14 September 2024. The roll closed on the 5 August 2024. The Northern Beaches Local Government area has 15 Councillors elected across five Wards, three Councillors representing each Ward. There are approximately 188,000 voters across the Northern Beaches with 38,500 voters in the Manly Ward who will elect three Councillors.

Here in Manly Ward (and likely the other Wards) we will see a ballot paper with candidates from the Liberals, Labor, Greens, Good for Manly and Your Northern Beaches Independent Team and maybe a few other independents vying for three Manly Ward spots.

Northern Beaches voters will not vote for a ‘directly elected mayor’, The election of our mayor will be left to the 15 Councillors after the election when they will vote for one of their own at the first Council meeting likely in November.

This election the NSW Electoral Commission has placed strict conditions and limits on the amount that political participants can spend on campaigning. These limits are called ‘electoral expenditure caps’ and there are important rules that apply to Campaign Expenditure for parties, candidates, and third parties. This includes expenditure on the production, distribution and advertising of election material including on radio, television, the internet, cinemas, newspapers, billboards, posters, brochures, how-to-vote cards and other election material. For the Manly Ward candidates, the expenditure cap is $39,600 and for third party campaigners the expenditure cap is $13,200.

On the other side, Political Donations or Indirect Campaign Contributions must be declared for amounts over $7,900 to a registered party or group of candidates and $3,800 for an associated entity or third-party campaigner.

Early voting or pre polling commences on Saturday 7 Sept 24 at St Matthews Church on the Corso or All Saints Anglican Church Balgowlah 18 Boyle Street, Balgowlah.

Postal vote applications close on Monday 9 Sept 24 and the main event, Polling Day is 14 Sept 2024 at St Matthews Church and St Mary’s Primary School. (No Polling Booth this time around at Manly Village Public School.)