2018 Tasmanian local elections

The 2018 Tasmanian local elections were held in October 2018 to elect the councils of the 29 local government areas in Tasmania, Australia. Councils also held mayoral and deputy mayoral elections.
This was the last time voting in Tasmanian local elections was voluntary, with compulsory voting introduced in 2022. Polls opened on 8 October and closed on Tuesday, 30 October.

Electoral system

Councillor elections are conducted using a slightly modified version of the Hare-Clark electoral system, which is also used for Tasmanian House of Assembly elections. Mayors and deputy mayors are elected using preferential voting, which is used for Tasmanian Legislative Council elections.
The Robson Rotation is used to rotate the order in which candidate names appear on ballot papers. All voting in Tasmanian local elections is conducted by post.

Elections timeline

10 September – Candidate nominations open
24 September – Candidate nominations close
8 October – Voting opens
30 October – Voting closes

Party changes before elections

A number of councillors joined or left parties before the 2018 elections.

Campaign

Jax Fox, an endorsed Greens candidate for Hobart, resigned from the party on 20 October after voting had begun. They stated that they " not believe the state party is acting in accordance with its founding principle of grassroots democracy".