At least four Filipino Australian candidates in the coming September 10 council elections in the state of New South Wales have the strong prospects of winning, lead by presently sitting Blacktown councillor Jess Diaz who had previous chances in recent years of wrangling mayorship in Blacktown.
,Report from the NSW Electoral Commission said 447 candidate nominations have been accepted for the 76 councils whose elections are being managed by the NSW Electoral Commission. Numbers are expected to rise sharply between now and the close of nominations at noon Wednesday, 10 August. Candidate names are published online at http://candidates.elections.nsw.gov.au as they are accepted.
Acting NSW Electoral Commissioner Linda Franklin reminded prospective candidates to nominate as soon as possible.
“If you don’t meet the nominations deadline then, unfortunately, you can’t contest the election,” she said.
“To avoid any problems with the nomination, candidates should lodge as early as possible.
A candidate must be properly enrolled in the council they wish to represent and must be nominated by at least two people who are correctly enrolled in the same council area, or by a Registered Political Party.
“Candidates and groups must also be registered with the NSW Electoral Commission before accepting donations or incurring campaign expenses.”
Ms Franklin also reminds candidates about new rules for the election.
“Candidates should be aware that new rules around political donations are in force for these elections. Key changes include limits on the amounts that can be donated to any registered political parties or groups, which are now capped at $5,900, and a $2,600 cap to unregistered parties, councillors, candidates and third-party campaigners. New regulations apply to third-party campaigners including that they must be registered before incurring more than $2,000 on electoral communication expenditure”.
“Candidates, political parties, third-party campaigners and political donors should acquaint themselves with the rules for election campaign finances,” said Ms Franklin