Council elections are your opportunity to vote on who you would like to represent you and make decisions for your community.

In council, these decisions are made by an elected group of people. This elected group is often known as council members, elected members or councillors.

Council members are elected during council elections.

How are council elections run?

Elections are your chance to vote for the people you want to represent you on matters that are important to you and the community.

You can also nominate to run in council elections yourself.

There are two types of council elections.

1. Periodic elections, held on a regular four-year cycle.
2. Supplementary elections, also known as by-elections or special elections. Supplementary elections are held when a position becomes vacant or if a position was not filled.

The next periodic election is scheduled for 2026.

What electoral system do council elections use?

The electoral system used in council elections in South Australia is proportional representation.

Proportional representation is where you elect candidates who receive a set proportion of the vote. For example, when there is one position available the winner must receive over 50% of the votes.

Votes are cast through preferential voting. This is where you indicate an order of preference for your candidates on the ballot paper, for instance, who you select as your 1st choice, 2nd choice and so on.

Who runs elections?

The Returning Officer is responsible for running South Australian council elections.

The South Australian Electoral Commissioner is the Returning Officer for all council elections.

The Returning Officer is independent of councils and is responsible for running the elections and ensuring they are conducted in accordance with the law.

Supplementary elections

A supplementary election (also known as a by-election or a special election) is an election used to fill a position on council that has become vacant between general elections. Supplementary elections can also be held if a position was not successfully filled during an election.

Supplementary elections are held outside of the normal scheduled timetable of elections for that council.

A supplementary election must be held if a councillor is unable to fulfil their duties for reasons including:

• death
• resignation
• failure to meet minimum attendance requirements
• criminal conviction
• disqualification (or ceasing to be qualified)
• ineligible to continue in office (because of a recall or election)
• appointment to a prohibited dual mandate
• failure to take up office
• an election is invalidated by voting irregularities.

In some cases, a vacancy may be filled without an election or the office may be left vacant.