Voters Roll - Who owns it?

LG Leader June 2018

The LG Elections Act does not make express provision for “ownership” of the voters roll it, simply, provides for the council (through the CEO) to keep and maintain it.

A voters roll comprises details of ‘electors’ in the council area.  Details of those electors are obtained, variously, from the House of Assembly roll, the council‘s assessment record and applications made to the council for enrolment.

 The largest component of the voters roll is residential electors with the majority of these provided to the council by the Electoral Commission of South Australia (ECSA).  The ECSA is required, to provide the relevant House of Assembly roll to the council within 7 days of the closing date of the voters roll for a council election.

In accordance with the provisions of the LG Elections Act the duty upon the ECSA is to provide a copy of the House of Assembly roll, as required by legislation.  However, what occurs in practice is the provision by the ECSA to councils of a monthly update. This is, the exercise of a discretion by the ECSA to enable a council to maintain it’s voters roll in the most up to date manner between council elections.

The information which the ECSA provides, both on a monthly basis and otherwise within 7 days of the close of the voter roll, is subject to section 26 of the Electoral Act 1985 which sets out the relevant legal powers and duties around inspection and provision of the House of Assembly roll. A copy of the House of Assembly roll of any district may only be provided to a member of the House of Assembly, a member of the Legislative Council, a registered political party and a nominated candidate in a State Election.  The right to obtain or be provided with a copy of the House of Assembly roll under the Electoral Act 1985 is, therefore, limited by the legislation under which that information is collated and maintained.

The question that arises is, what powers a council has to deal with this information provided by the ECSA, including that which is provided for monthly update. The answer is simple.  Only a nominated candidate in a council election is entitled to obtain a copy of the voters roll and then in printed form only (i.e. not an electronic or ‘soft’ copy) and limited to the period between the close of nominations and polling day. A nominated candidate may also obtain further copies of the voters roll in printed form on payment of the fees fixed by the council. Otherwise, there is no entitlement for any person to obtain a copy of the voters roll. This position is, of course, distinct from the ongoing right of public inspection.

Councils must, therefore, be aware that there is no entitlement to produce or reproduce the information provided by the ECSA to any third party, including to elected members of the council. The issue of “ownership” is, therefore, around that component of the voters roll which is provided by the ECSA. The ECSA maintains and claims proprietary rights over that information.

Otherwise, it would be a somewhat unusual position if a council could deal with the information provided by the ECSA in a manner which the ECSA himself cannot.

As the Local Government elections loom large we recognize that there will be numerous related questions of an interpretive and technical nature. We are here to assist.

For further information please contact Michael Kelledy on 08 8113 7103 or mkelledy@kelledyjones.com.au.