Enrolling to vote

Overview

In a council election, there are two types of voters:

  • State-enrolled voters
  • Council-enrolled voters

You can only vote once in Murrindindi Shire Council. If you are a state-enrolled voter, that is the enrolment you use to vote.

For information about Victorian elections, visit the VEC website.

State-enrolled voters

You must enrol and vote if you:

  • are 18 years or older
  • are an Australian citizen
  • have lived at your address for longer than one month

You can enrol, check or update your enrolment on the VEC website.

Council-enrolled voters

Council-enrolled voters include ratepayers who are property owners, occupiers or corporations.

You can apply to become a council-enrolled voter directly with Murrindindi Shire Council if you are:

  • 18 years or older
  • a property owner, occupier or represent a corporation
  • not a State-enrolled voter within the council area

If you are on the council roll, you must vote. If you don't vote, you may get a fine.

The rules for council-enrolled voters have changed, so it's a good idea to read this carefully. The different enrolment categories are explained below.

Owner Ratepayer

You can apply to enrol directly with Murrindindi Shire Council if you:

  • own a property and pay rates in Murrindindi Shire
  • are 18 or over
  • are not a state-enrolled voter who lives in Murrindindi Shire

Once you are enrolled, you will stay enrolled and you must vote in all local council elections, including by-elections for Murrindindi Shire Council. If you don't vote, you may get a fine.

If you don’t want to vote for that property anymore, you can apply to Council to take you off the Council roll. If you sell your property, your Council enrolment will automatically become invalid.

A maximum of two owners can apply to enrol for any one property.

To enrol, please complete and submit your application form to rates@murrindindi.vic.gov.au

Owner Ratepayer - Application for enrolment(PDF, 65KB)

If you are enrolling to vote in the 2024 Murrindindi Shire Council election, applications must be received by 7 August 2024.

Occupier Ratepayer

You can apply to enrol directly with Murrindindi Shire Council if you:

  • pay rates for a property that you occupy but do not own
  • are 18 years or older
  • are not a state-enrolled voter

To enrol, please complete and submit your application form to rates@murrindindi.vic.gov.au

Occupier Ratepayer - Application for enrolment(PDF, 67KB)

If you are enrolling to vote in the 2024 Murrindindi Shire Council election, applications must be received by 7 August 2024.

In previous local council general elections it was not compulsory to vote, now you must vote if you are on the roll or you may get a fine for the 2024 local council general elections and for by elections after this.

For more information on enrolling to vote as an Occupier ratepayer, visit the VEC website.

Corporation

You can apply to enrol to vote on behalf of a corporation if you:

  • are the director or company secretary of a corporation that pays rates (either as an owner or an occupier) in Murrindindi Shire
  • have consented to being appointed as the corporation's representative
  • are not already a state-enrolled voter or council-enrolled voter for Murrindindi Shire

To enrol, please complete and submit your application form to rates@murrindindi.vic.gov.au

Corporation - Application for enrolment(PDF, 71KB)

If you are enrolling to vote in the 2024 Murrindindi Shire Council election, applications must be received by 7 August 2024.

In previous local council general elections it was not compulsory for corporate representatives to vote–now you must vote if you are enrolled or you may get a fine for the 2024 local council general elections and for by-elections after this.

For more information on enrolling to vote as a Corporation, visit the VEC website.

Hard copies of each application form are available to collect from 

  • Alexandra Library - 49 Grant Street
  • Alexandra Customer Service - 28 Perkins Street
  • Kinglake Library and Customer Service - 19 Whittlesea-Kinglake Rd
  • Yea Library and Customer Service - 15 The Semi Circle
  • Mobile Library and Customer Service - click here to view the Mobile Library timetable

If you are enrolling to vote in the 2024 Murrindindi Shire Council election, applications must be received by 7 August 2024.

For further information contact Council by calling (03) 5772 0333 or email rates@murrindindi.vic.gov.au 

Council by-elections

By-elections before October 2024

If you were a council-enrolled voter in Murrindindi Shire at the 2020 local council general elections and your circumstances haven’t changed, you will be automatically enrolled for any by-elections that take place before October 2024. It is not compulsory for you to vote.

If you weren’t a council-enrolled voter in Murrindindi Shire at the 2020 local council general elections, or your circumstances have changed, you can apply to enrol at any by-elections that take place before October 2024. It is not compulsory for you to vote.

If you want to vote in the next local council general election in October 2024, you will need to apply to enrol again.

By-elections after October 2024

If you apply to enrol for the local council elections in 2024, you will remain enrolled for any council by-elections up until 2028. It will be compulsory for you to vote.