If you're looking for more information about voting in 2010 Council Elections then you've found the right page. In some other countries people continue to die for the right to vote for their governments. Here you have that right, and when Local Government manages almost $16 billion of public infrastructure and invests in services costing about $1.5 billion a year, it's no wonder people choose to vote.
Recent controversies regarding key decisions about parks, libraries, planning approvals, sporting facilities, new development, cultural venues, road works and food waste (to name a few) illustrate the importance of local decision making. Voting is your opporutnity to have a say in how your community is run. It's not the only way, but when push comes to shove, it is the people sitting around the Council chamber who make the key decisions for you.
We have voluntary voting in SA Local Government. That's not new. US Presidential elections are voluntary and in 2008 President Obama encouraged 56.8% of American people to the polls - the highest turnout since the days of John F Kennedy. US voter turnout in 2006 Congressional elections was 37.1%. In SA Council elections more than 40% voted in 2000 and in 2006 almost one third of those eligible voted - 31.6%.
So who can vote, who do you vote for, how do you vote, when do you vote and why should you vote? Read on ...
So am I on the voters roll? If you are on the State House of Assembly voters roll for an address in your current Council area then you should automatically be on the roll. To check out other entitlements, click here.
To help you make an informed choice about who to vote for in your Council elections, see Selecting your candidate and Voters Checklist below. The LG Candidates website also publishes profiles about all candidates standing for election.
Selecting your candidate 
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Postal Voting Guides in 20 community languages (including English) are available by clicking here.
Voting packs will be mailed to electors between Monday 25 October and Friday 29 October. If you don't have your papers by Friday phone 8346 9057.
Ballot packs need to be completed and returned to the Electoral Commission of SA or your local Council office no later than 5pm on Friday 12 November.
Need an SMS reminder? See here for details SMS reminder (214 kb)
If you care about the things that Councils look after - beaches, libraries, roads, parks and much more - you should exercise your right to vote. For more information on Council servcices click here.
For more information about the Power of Voting click here. If you are interested in the vote counting system used by the Electoral Commission of SA for LG Elections [as provide for in the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999] the best explanation of that is contained in the ECSA Fact Sheets "PR Flowchart," and " PR Booklet" which can be found by clicking here.
Which Council area am I in? To find clickable maps, click here. To access an address and suburb search, click here.
