Geraldton local government election breakdown reveals over 65s to be the most active voters

Voters aged over 65 were the most active participants in the City of Greater Geradlton’s local government election last October, according to a demographic breakdown from the WA Electoral Commission. The election saw former mayor Shane Van Styn voted out of the top job, succeeded by Jerry Clune in a demonstration of the power of preferential voting. The outcome was decided by 285 of the 9674 votes cast by residents of the city. The overall voter turnout was just over 32 per cent. Just 9.8 per cent of the registered 2850 voters in the age 18 to 24 category cast a vote, totalling 481 votes cast by the youngest demographic, which were also the least engaged. The next age group, the 25 to 34 demographic, saw 15.6 per cent cast a vote, which came to 873 votes from a possible 4532. The 35 to 44 age group saw 1511 votes from a possible 4990, which represents 17.2 per cent of electors. In the 55 to 64 age group, 1921 people cast a vote from a possible 4942 electors which represents 17.1 per cent of the demographic. The biggest age group of 65 and over, with a total of 7077 electors, saw 3626 votes cast, representing 24.4 per cent of the age group. A group of 144 voters were unable to be identified, and did not give a date of birth.