Non-residents angered over election enrolments

Business tenants in the City of Sydney electorate are being informed they need to be a business owner in order to vote at the September 8 Council elections.

Under the City of Sydney Act 1988 owners, lessees and occupiers of rateable property in the City of Sydney area are eligible to vote.
However, these parties should have provided the NSW Electoral Commission with a Rate Assessment Number (RAN)by June 30. The RAN is provided by Council.

Barry Goldman, chairman of Living Sydney, said he called Council and they flatly refused to give him a RAN based on the fact he is a tenant and not a business owner. The application process for a RAN has
received criticism due its long-winded and time consuming nature.

Living Sydney party candidate and business owner, Angela Vithoulkas said she and many others have experienced difficulty in obtaining RANs.
“Council are not doing enough to make the process streamlined and simplified,” she said.

Ms Vithoulkas said she had to ring council three times to obtain a valid RAN. One of the criteria to apply for the RAN was to provide the address of the relevant landlord. Many tenants cannot provide this and hence Council has refused to provide the RAN.

Ms Vithoulkas claimed such conduct is widespread. “I have had at least one hundred people visit my café claiming they had a similar, difficult
experience in getting the RAN,” she said.

However, a spokesperson for City of Sydney Council said all that is necessary is being done for non-residential voting. “The RAN is not confidential information and the City of Sydney is happy to supply
this number to businesses that call our Customer Service Line on 9265 9333,” said the spokesperson.

“All they need to do to get the number is provide their full address.”

Ms Vithoulkas said that even though some non-residents obtained the number, Council is failing to raise proper awareness about voting rights for non-residents. “Council is deliberately avoiding attention to RANs to stifle a potentially large voice in the local
area,” she said.

“Non-residents could form up to 50 per cent of the electorate,” said Ms Vithoulkas. “They deliberately want to stifle this vote as
this could seriously change the makeup of Council.”

Co-owner of local business, The Record Store, Stephan Gyory said awareness regarding non-residential voting is “negligible” and a full-scale campaign needs to be implemented by council to increase
awareness.