This year, eligible voters in South Australia have three elections coming up on the calendar. These will happen as three separate elections and polling days as each level of government (which you can read more about here) has their own way of timing elections. So, when do federal, state and local governments have their elections?
State Government
State elections are held once every 4 years, with polling day on the 3rd Saturday of March each time. So, in 2022 the election will fall on Saturday 19 March. There’s only a few reasons that this date could change, the main one being if the federal election is also scheduled for March. If that happens the date can be moved by up to 21 days.
In order to vote in this state election you must be enrolled to vote by 5pm 25 February. Voting in this election is compulsory for eligible voters.
Federal Government
Federal elections happen once every three years, but the exact date and timing is decided by the party in power, so we don’t know the date until an election is called. The last federal election was on 18 May 2019, as of yet all we know about the date of the 2022 election is that it can’t be later than 21 May. The date chosen must be a Saturday.
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 requires at least 33 days between the issue of the writ (an instruction to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to hold and election day. While our federal representatives are already getting into election mode the time between the issue of the writ and polling day is when they’ll be campaigning.
In order to vote in this federal election you must be enrolled to vote by 8pm seven calendar days after the writ is issued. Voting in this election is compulsory for eligible voters.
Local Government
In SA state elections are held every four years for all 68 councils except the Municipal Council of Roxby Downs, which operates under its own administration. In 2022 these elections will happen on Thursday 10 November across the state.
In order to vote in your council election you must be enrolled to vote by 5pm 29 July. Voting in local government elections is not compulsory.
