Who runs Local Government Elections in South Australia?
The person responsible for running Local Government elections is the Returning Officer. The Returning Officer for all Local Government elections is the State Electoral Commissioner, who is appointed under Section 10 of the Local Government (Elections) Act. The State Electoral Commissioner is also responsible for conducting State parliamentary elections. The Returning Officer may appoint one or more Deputy Returning Officers for each council to help run the elections. The Deputies are usually employees of State or Commonwealth Electoral Offices or they can be nominees of the council approved by the Returning Officer. Other people, called Electoral Officers, also help out during the elections and provide people with information and advice about what to do. All these people are trained by the Returning Officer and it is their job to carry out their role in strict adherence to directions and delegations from the Returning Officer.
