Council elections

Enrolling as a ratepayer in Bayside

In a Victorian local council election there are two types of voters:

• State-enrolled
• Council-enrolled.

You have one vote in Bayside. If you are a state-enrolled voter, that is the enrolment you use to vote.

State-enrolled voters

You must enrol and vote if you:

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

For more information visit the VEC website

Council-enrolled voters (ratepayers)

Some ratepayers can apply to become council-enrolled voters in Bayside if they are:

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

These are known as council-enrolled voters.

The rules for council-enrolled voters have changed ahead of the 2024 council elections. These changes are explained below.

Note, it is not compulsory to enrol as a council-enrolled voter.

Owner ratepayers

You can apply to enrol in Bayside if you:

• own property and pay rates in the council area
• are 18 or older
• are not a state-enrolled voter who lives in Bayside.

This includes:

• Australian citizens who own a property in Bayside but do not live in the area (for example an investment or a holiday home).
• Non-citizens over 18 who own a property and live in Bayside.
• Up to 2 ratepayers can apply to enrol per property, but each person only gets one vote. Applications for enrolment will be provided on this page shortly.

Owner ratepayer application for ongoing enrolment

Note, it is not compulsory to enrol as a council-enrolled owner voter.

Once you are enrolled as an owner ratepayer though, you must vote for the October 2024 elections and onwards. If you don’t vote, you will receive a fine from the VEC.

Occupier ratepayers

You can apply to enrol in Bayside if you:

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

Up to 2 people per property can apply to enrol, but each person only gets one vote. Applications for enrolment will be provided on this page shortly.

Occupier ratepayer - application for enrolment

Corporations

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

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

Only one person can apply to enrol as the corporation’s representative. Applications for enrolment will be provided on this page shortly.

Corporation owner occupier - appointment of voting representative 

If you meet the criteria

If you meet any of these criteria, you can contact us to apply to enrol.

Check if you are enrolled via the VEC website

Resigning your enrolment

If you don’t want to vote for that property anymore, you can apply to resign your enrolment.

Expiry of enrolment

Occupier ratepayers’ and corporations’ enrolment expires before the next local government general election.

If you want to continue to vote, you must apply to enrol again before the next local council general election (2028).

Council will send you an invitation when it is time to renew your enrolment.

Owner ratepayers’ enrolment does not expire, but they can apply to resign their enrolment.

The VEC has a range of resources for candidates in the 2024 Council elections.

VEC local Council candidate resources

Candidate information sessions

Bayside and the VEC will be holding information sessions for candidates. 

Bayside dates are yet to be confirmed. 

MAV dates close to Bayside include:

• 18 July - MAV Stand for Council information session
• 31 July - MAV Stand for Council information session

For more information about local information sessions