Nominations for the Legislative Council must be submitted to the NSWEC by 12 noon on the day of nomination.

A person must be nominated by:

• the registered officer for a registered party which has endorsed the person for the election
  or
• at least 15 electors enrolled for any New South Wales electorate.

More information on nominating as a candidate can be found in the Handbook for Parties, Groups and Candidates – Legislative Council Election 2007 (PDF)[476.2 kb].

Legislative Council groups

Candidates contesting a Legislative Council election may join together to form a group. The group of candidates must be registered with the NSWEC. A group of candidates does not have to be connected to a registered political party. If a group has at least 15 candidates it can apply for a group voting square above the thick black line on the ballot paper.

Candidates wanting to form a group must do so by the close of the nominations.

All candidates and registered political parties have the opportunity to register groups for the Legislative Council.

All candidates involved in a group should read the Handbook for Parties, Groups and Candidates – Legislative Council Election 2007 (PDF)[476.2 kb].

Deposits

The nomination must be accompanied by a deposit required under legislation as follows:

• $500 for each ungrouped candidate
• $500 for each candidate if in a group of up to 10
• $5,000 total for a group of 11-21 (the deposit for each candidate is $5,000 ÷ the number of candidates in the group) or
• $500 for each candidate if in a group of 22 or more.

The deposit is returned if:

• the candidate is elected
• at least one of the candidates in the group in which the candidate is included is elected
• the total number of votes polled as first preference votes in the candidate's favour or in favour of the members of the group in which the candidate is included is at least 4% of the total number of first preference votes polled in the election.