The NSW Electoral Commission says people who were unable to vote on Saturday after its online voting system crashed will not be fined.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The iVote system was down for some time on Saturday due to the high demand.
The NSW Electoral Commission said almost triple the number of voters used the system during the council elections than any previous election.
Almost 630,000 votes had been cast by 1pm Saturday, when applications closed, compared to the 234,401 voters opted to use iVote in the 2019 state election.
The NSW Electoral Commission said any eligible voter who had applied to use iVote but was unable to do so due to the crashes would be excused from paying any penalty.
"The Electoral Commissioner may also determine, after the elections have finished, that other categories of electors should be excused for having a sufficient reason," the commission said.
Saturday marked the first time the system had been used in a local government election - although it had previously been employed in state elections - after the Local Government Act was amended in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Illawarra Mercury newsroom is funded by our readers. You can subscribe to support our journalism here.
Sign up for breaking news emails below...