Commission staff are sometimes asked ‘What do you do in between State general elections?’
The answer … is essentially, run other elections. In the 2018 calendar year the WAEC conducted two State by-elections, 10 local government extraordinary elections, and 22 polls or board elections for unions, university student guilds, community organisations and private companies. A number of these involved ballots for 6 or more separate positions.
Additionally, Commission staff continuously maintain one of the State’s largest data bases in the State electoral roll; provide roll related services to a variety of customers; manage the political funding and disclosure provisions of the Electoral Act; and deliver community education programs that involve some 45,000 face to face interactions each year.
A State general election is the biggest event conducted in Western Australia every four years, so considerable time is also spend in preparing and continuously improving systems and procedures in between each electoral event.