The Peel St centre will actually open its doors to the public from Monday July 25 - but it can't take votes for another five weeks. The centre will provide information for electors mainly until then as, the preparations for the 2016 local government elections wind up.

The IT installations for computers and other office equipment needed for the ballot have been completed and the former recruitment office next door to Ruby's gift shop at the Roderick St end of Peel St, is set up for the official election day for Saturday September 10.

Pre poll voters will be able to cast their votes there for the 10 days before then, from Monday August 29. The rolls for the three councils how there are more than 50,000 people enrolled for this poll.

Tamworth has the lion's share of the population segment, with an estimated 43,338 voters eligible - up more than 3,000 voters from the last Tamworth Regional Council election in 2012. At the last election then, about 8,000 people cast a pre-poll vote and given the trends of the latest state and federal election pre polling figures, these can be expected to increase significantly.

Nominations for candidates for the three councils don't open until August 1 - and the ballot, if there is to be one in each of those councils, will be done on August 10 in Tamworth.

At Tamworth, where there's an undivided boundaries system and councillors are elected by the whole council electorate, we will vote for nine councillors.

At Walcha, where the shire is sub divided into four electorates, or wards, there are eight councillors to be elected.

Uralla will elect eight councillors across two wards - but the 4,572 voters in that shire will also have a second ballot paper to fill out - for the first time ever they will elect their mayor by popular vote. Under this system the mayor serves four years, instead of one in councils where the mayor is elected by the other councillors.