RESIDENTS of Hornsby Shire, Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby City Councils go to the polls to elect their councils on December 4. 

The councils have been divided in to Wards to deliver representatives of the community and provide a voice to those communities. 

Ku-ring-gai is divided into five wards, with Hornsby divided into three wards. Residents of Ku-ring-gai elect two councillors per Ward delivering 10 Councillors. 

Hornsby residents elect three councillors for each Ward delivering nine Councillors, and directly electing the mayor delivering 10 Councillors in total. 

Ku-ring-gai residents do not directly elect their Mayor. The selection of Mayor is by a vote of the Councillors. 

Of the 128 Local Councils in NSW, only 35 directly elect the mayor, including
The Hills Shire Council, Willoughby City Council and Mosman Council. 

Federal, State and Local Government elections all have different rules and ballot papers. The number and type of ballot papers you receive will depend on the type of election.

Voters in Hornsby and Willoughby will receive two (2) ballot papers: one for their Ward and a second ballot paper for the mayoral elections. 

Voters in Ku-ring-gai will receive a single ballot paper for their Ward, i.e. Comenarra, St Ives, Wahroonga etc.

To ensure your vote is counted number each box as instructed on the ballot paper. 

The NSW Electoral Commission recommends you follow these steps to complete your ballot paper when you vote at a polling place:

1. Take your ballot papers to a vacant voting screen and cast your vote in private.
2. If you need help to complete your ballot papers, you can ask an election official or take a friend with you. There's a range of help available at voting centres and polling places on the day if you need it.  
   You can find it here - elections.nsw.gov.au/Voting/Assistance-for-voters/ 
   Once you have filled in your ballot papers, you must fold them and put them into the correct ballot boxes on your way out.
3. HK POST urges voters to make sure their vote counts in these local government elections.

There are four ways to vote:

1. Prepoll
2. Online at ivote
3. Postal
4. In person at a polling place on December 4th 2021.