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1998-1999-2000-2001
THE
PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
ELECTORAL AND REFERENDUM AMENDMENT
BILL (NO. 2) 2001
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated with the authority of the
Special Minister of State,
Senator the Honourable Eric
Abetz)
ELECTORAL AND REFERENDUM AMENDMENT BILL (NO. 2) 2001
OUTLINE
The Bill contains reform measures, amending both
the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (CEA) and the Referendum
(Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 (RMPA), arising from the
government-supported recommendations of the Joint Standing Committee on
Electoral Matters’ (JSCEM) report on the 1998 Federal Election, which was
tabled in the Parliament in June 2000.
The most notable amendments include those which will:
• provide for the close of rolls for new enrolments at the issue of the writ, and for existing electors wishing to update their enrolment, three working days after the issue of the writ;
• remove the right to vote for all prisoners serving a sentence of full time detention;
• amend the multiple voting provisions of the CEA and the RMPA to insert a new offence of ‘intentional’ multiple voting, with a penalty of 60 penalty units (which currently equates to $6,600), imprisonment for 12 months, or both. These offences are in addition to, and do not replace, the current offences of voting more than once at the same election or referendum, which are offences of strict liability, and which will retain a penalty of 10 penalty units;
• increase a number of the financial disclosure thresholds to $3000, effective from 1 July 2001;
• provide that entitlement to enrolment will be based on residence, for a period of one month, at a particular address in a Subdivision, rather than just residence in the Subdivision;
• provide that electors may be removed from the roll by objection if they no longer reside at their enrolled address and have not lived there for at least the last month (even if they still reside in the Subdivision);
• provide that where an elector has cast a provisional vote because their name has been removed from the roll as a result of objection action, (ie. the AEC had found that they no longer lived at their enrolled address), the elector’s provisional vote will not be admitted to scrutiny if, since the removal of the elector’s name from the roll, an election (excluding the election to which the scrutiny relates) has been held, or if there has been a redistribution of the State or Territory that includes the Division for which the elector is claiming the provisional vote since the last election, and their name was removed from the roll prior to that redistribution;
• provide that there will be no automatic reinstatement to the roll for electors whose provisional votes have been admitted to the count, instead these electors will be required to complete a new enrolment form;
• prohibit scrutineers from actively participating in assisted votes;
• provide that only electoral advertising in journals and magazines need to be authorised;
• provide that nomination deposits are to be refunded to the person who paid them;
• allow for the declaration of nominations for House of Representatives elections to occur at the office of the relevant Divisional Returning Officer (DRO) or at a place determined by the Australian Electoral Officer (AEO) for the relevant State or Territory; and
• amend the RMPA to provide that before making the postal vote
applications of silent electors available for public inspection, all details
other than the elector’s name must be removed from the application. This
will make the CEA and RMPA consistent in regard to what information is to be
deleted from the postal vote applications of ‘silent’
electors.
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
The Australian
Electoral Commission will require additional funding of $50,000 in an election
year and $250,000 in a non-election year to implement the early close of rolls
provisions. The additional funds will cover the cost of a targeted information
campaign to ensure that electors are fully informed of the requirements of the
new provisions.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 – Short
title
1. This clause provides for the Act to be cited as the
Electoral and Referendum Amendment Act (No. 2) 2001.
Clause 2
– Commencement
2. This clause provides that items 3, 4, 5, 8,
11, 12, 45, 46, 47 and 48 of Schedule 1 and items 25 and 46 of Schedule 2
commence on a date to be fixed by Proclamation. The remainder of the Act
commences 28 days after Royal Assent, with the exception of item 1 and 2 of
Schedule 3, which are taken to have commenced on 5 December 1999, immediately
after the commencement of items 764 and 765 of Schedule 1 to the Public
Employment (Consequential and Transitional) Act 1999. These items are
technical amendments only, and it is anticipated that this retrospective
commencement date will have no detrimental effect.
Clause 3 –
Schedule(s)
3. This clause provides that each Act specified in a
Schedule is amended or repealed as set out in the Schedule, and any other item
in a Schedule has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1 –
General amendments
Schedule 1 items 1, 2, 6, 7, 23, 24, 25,
43, 44, 50, 51 and 60 – Removal of the right to vote by
prisoners
4. Items 1, 2, and 6 amend section 93 and repeal section
96A of the CEA to remove the right to enrol and vote from all persons serving a
term of imprisonment for an offence against the law of the Commonwealth or a
State or Territory. Previously, only those serving a sentence of 5 years or
longer were not entitled to enrol and vote.
5. Only those who are
serving a sentence of full time detention will no longer be eligible to enrol
and vote – those serving alternative sentences such as periodic or home
detention, as well as those serving a non-custodial sentence or released on
parole, may still be eligible to enrol and vote.
6. Item 7 is a
consequential amendment that removes a reference in subsection 99(3) to section
96A of the CEA, as this section will be repealed by item 6.
7. Item 23
amends the grounds for applying for registration as a General Postal Voter (GPV)
in section 184A of the CEA to clarify that prisoners within the meaning of 93(8)
are not eligible for registration.
8. Item 24 repeals section 226A of
the CEA and item 51 repeals section 49A of the RMPA, to clarify that since
prisoners within the meaning of 93(8) are not entitled to enrol or vote, mobile
polling within prisons will not occur. Items 25, 44 and 50 are consequential to
this amendment.
9. Item 43 amends clause 9, Schedule 2 of the CEA, and
item 39 amends clause 9, Schedule 3 of the RMPA, to provide that imprisonment is
no longer a ground to apply for postal or pre-poll vote.
10. These
amendments implement a recommendation of the Government Response to the JSCEM
report on the 1998 Federal Election.
Schedule 1 items 3, 4, 5, 8, 11,
12, 45, 46, 47 and 48 – Close of rolls
11. Items 11, 12, 47
and 48 amend section 155 of the CEA and section 9 of the RMPA to provide for the
close of rolls for new enrolments at the issue of the writ (that is, at 6 p.m.
on the date of the issue of the writ). The close of rolls for existing electors
wishing to update their enrolment or for applicants who are not currently but
have previously been enrolled, will be 8pm three working days after the issue of
the writ.
12. Item 8 deals with the actions to be taken by the relevant
DRO upon receipt of a claim for enrolment. Items 3, 4 and 5 deal with enrolment
from overseas, enrolment from the spouse or child of an eligible overseas
elector, and enrolment of itinerant electors respectively. In each case the DRO
may not add the enrolment applicant’s name to the roll if the application
was received during the ‘postponement period’ (however processing of
forms received by the DRO prior to the postponement period may continue). The
postponement period commences at 8pm three working days after the date of the
issue of the writ for applicants who have previously been electors, and at 6pm
on the date of the issue of the writ for those who have not previously been
electors (that is, are new enrolments). In both cases the postponement period
ends at the close of polling for the election.
13. These amendments
implement recommendation 3 of the Government Response to the JSCEM report on the
1998 Federal Election.
Schedule 1 item 9 – Removal of nexus
between provisional voting and reinstatement
14. This amendment
provides for the removal of the nexus between the admission of a provisional
vote to the further scrutiny and automatic reinstatement of the provisional
voter’s name to the electoral roll. Under current legislation, in certain
cases where an elector has been removed from the roll by objection, and
subsequently casts a provisional vote at an election, a DRO may be required to
reinstate the name of the elector to the roll if the elector claims to still
reside within the same Subdivision. By repealing subsections 105(4) and (5) of
the CEA, DROs will no longer be required to automatically reinstate to the roll
an elector who has been removed by objection and subsequently casts a
provisional vote at the next election or referendum. Instead the elector will
be required to complete a new enrolment form to be placed back on the
roll.
15. This amendment implements recommendation 38 of the JSCEM
report on the 1998 Federal Election.
Schedule 1 item 10 –
Information on convictions to be provided to the AEC
16. This
amendment to section 109 of the CEA is consequential to the amendments proposed
by items 1, 2, 6, 7, 28 and 39 (Removal of the right to vote by prisoners), and
provides that the Controller-General of Prisons shall, as soon as practicable
after the beginning of each month, provide to the AEC a list of persons who
during the preceding month have been convicted and are serving a sentence of
imprisonment (rather than a sentence of 5 years or longer as is currently the
case), as defined by subsection 93(8).
17. Controller-General of
Prisons” is defined in section 4 of the CEA as the Controller-General or
other principal officer of a State or Territory having control of the prisons or
gaols.
Schedule 1 items 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21 and 22 – Return
of nomination deposit to person who paid it
18. Items 13, 14, 15,
19, 20, 21 and 22 amend sections 173, 177 and 178 of the CEA to provide
that where the deposit paid by or on behalf of a candidate at a House of
Representatives or Senate election is to be returned, it is returned to the
person who paid it or to a person authorised in writing by the person who paid
it, rather than to the candidate or a person authorised in writing by the
candidate. In the case of the death of a candidate who paid the deposit
themselves and had not authorised the return of the deposit to another person in
writing, the deposit will be returned to the personal representative of the
candidate.
Schedule 1 items 16, 17, and 18 – Declaration of
nominations
19. Currently it is only possible for the AEO to
determine a declaration place in relation to Senate elections – for a
House of Representatives election the declaration of nominations must be made at
the place of nominations. These amendments provide for the place of declaration
of nominations for both Senate and House of Representatives elections to be a
place determined by the AEO. The AEO will be able to determine a declaration
place in relation to each Division for House of Representatives elections (which
may be the same place for multiple Divisions), as well as a declaration place
for the State or Territory for Senate elections.
20. This will allow
for the declaration to be held at a place other than DRO or AEO’s offices
where space may be limited.
Schedule 1 items 26 and 49 –
Scrutineers not to provide assistance to voters
21. It is currently
the case that, under section 234 of the CEA and section 36 of the RMPA, where an
elector satisfies the presiding officer of a polling place that they suffer a
disability which precludes them from personally casting a vote (are physically
impaired, vision impaired or illiterate), the elector may be assisted in the
casting of their vote by a person of their choice. These amendments propose to
explicitly prevent scrutineers from providing assistance to voters. Apart from
scrutineers, this amendment will not limit in any other way those who can assist
the elector in the casting of their vote. Scrutineers are unable to relinquish
their appointment as a scrutineer in order to assist in the casting of a vote.
22. These amendments implement recommendation 36 of the JSCEM report on
the 1998 Federal Election.
Schedule 1 items 27, 28 and 29 –
Minimum disclosure by donors
23. Item 27 amends subsection
305B(1) to lift the minimum amount donated before a donor is required to lodge a
return from $1,500 to $3,000. As such it will be the case that where a person
makes donations totalling $3,000 or more in a financial year to the same
political party, or to the same State branch of a political party, they must
provide a return to the Electoral Commission. Donations totalling less than
$3,000 in a financial year to the same political party, or to the same State
branch of a political party, will not have to be disclosed.
24. Items
28 and 29 propose amendments to bring subsection 305B(3A) into line with the
proposed amendments to 305B(1). That is, where the donor receives a gift valued
at $3,000 which is then used to make up gifts donated to a political party
totalling $3,000 or more in a financial year, this must be included in the
return to the Electoral Commission.
25. These amendments implement
recommendation 45 of the JSCEM report on the 1998 Federal Election.
26. These items deal with the application of the proposed amendments to
subsections 305B(1), 305B(3A), 314AC(1) and 314AE(1) of the CEA, so that the
amendments apply to the financial year in which the items commence, as well as
to all later financial years. Although this application may be retrospective in
some circumstances, no detrimental effect is anticipated as the amendments will
simplify disclosure requirements. If individuals and parties have been
maintaining appropriate records in line with current requirements, no additional
information will be needed to be gathered.
27. The proposed amendment to subsection 306(1) would increase the
amount a political party or a person acting on behalf of a political party may
receive as a gift without recording the name and address of the person making
the gift from $1,000 to $3,000.
28. The proposed amendments to section
306A would increase the amount a party, candidate, member of a group or a person
acting on behalf of a political party, candidate or group may receive as a loan
from a person or organisation without recording the details of the loan from
$1,500 to $3,000.
29. The proposed amendment to subsection 314AC(1) would increase the
disclosable sum received by a party from a person or organisation from $1,500 to
$3,000.
30. The amendment to subsection 314AE(1) would increase the
disclosable sum of all outstanding debts incurred by, or on behalf of, a party
to a person or organisation from $1,500 to $3,000.
31. These amendments
implement recommendation 44 of the JSCEM report on the 1998 Federal
Election.
32. Under the current provisions of the CEA and RMPA, any article or
paragraph in a journal containing electoral matter must be labelled as an
‘advertisement’. This is due to an inaccuracy in amendments
contained in the Electoral and Referendum Amendment Act 1998. The intent
of the amendments was to broaden the requirement to label advertisements so that
it included printed matter other than newspapers. However, as the legislation
currently stands, any political commentary in any journal must be labelled as an
advertisement. The proposed amendments will amend section 331 of the CEA and
section 124 of the RMPA so that only advertisements containing electoral matter
must be labelled as an ‘advertisement’, whether inserted for
consideration (meaning monetary or non-monetary payment) or not.
33.
These amendments implement recommendation 17 of the JSCEM report on the 1998
Federal Election.
34. Items 42 and 59 will insert new subsections to section 339 of the
CEA and section 130 of the RMPA to add a new offence of
‘intentional’ multiple voting. Where a person is found guilty of
intentionally voting more than once at the same election (or referendum), the
penalty will be 60 penalty units (which currently equates to $6,600),
imprisonment for 12 months, or both. This will have the effect of disqualifying
anybody convicted and under sentence (or subject to be sentenced) under either
of these sections from being capable of sitting as a Senator or Member of the
House of Representatives by virtue of section 44 of the Constitution.
35. Section 44 of the Constitution sets out those classes of persons
who are incapable of being chosen or sitting as a Senator or Member of the House
of Representatives. Paragraph 44(ii) specifies any person who “Is
attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to
be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of
a State by imprisonment for one year or longer”.
36. These
offences are in addition to, and do not replace, the current offences of voting
more than once at the same election or referendum, which is an offence of strict
liability, and which will retain a penalty of 10 penalty units. The purpose of
this is to maintain a relatively low penalty for those convicted of perhaps
unintentional or accidental multiple voting, whereas those convicted of
intentional multiple voting may receive the penalty of 60 penalty units, 12
months imprisonment, or both. It is appropriate that there be tougher sanctions
against deliberate wrongdoers. This is in line with the Attorney-General’s
Department requirement that offences of strict liability do not receive overly
severe penalties.
37. Item 58 is an amendment to correct an existing
technical error in the RMPA by substituting the word ‘election’ with
‘referendum’.
38. These amendments implement a
recommendation of the Government Response to the JSCEM report on the 1998
Federal Election.
39. Item 52 is an amendment to section 62 of the RMPA to require DROs to
delete all details from a ‘silent’ elector’s postal vote
application, except the person’s name, before making them available for
public inspection. This will make the CEA and RMPA consistent in regard to what
information is to be deleted from the postal vote applications of
‘silent’ electors.
40. Items 5 to 10 and 17 to 19 amend sections 99
and 102 to provide that an elector’s entitlement for enrolment will be in
respect of residence at an address within a Subdivision (rather than just
residence within the Subdivision), and the elector’s name will be placed
on the roll in respect of residence at that address.
41. To be
entitled to have their name placed on the roll, the elector must be living at
the address, and have lived at the address for at least a period of one month
last past.
42. Items 1 and 2 will amend sections
94A and 95 of the CEA dealing with the entitlement for enrolment for persons
applying from outside Australia under section 94A, and the spouse or child of an
eligible overseas elector applying for enrolment under section 95. These
amendments are consequential to the amendments that will provide that enrolment
will be in respect of an address within a Subdivision. Electors who enrol from
outside Australia or who enrol as a spouse or child of an eligible overseas
elector are placed on the roll for a Subdivision only, not for a particular
address within a Subdivision. This will not change under this amendment. The
amendment simply updates the entitlement provision from requiring notional
residence in a Subdivision to requiring notional residence at an address.
Accordingly, persons applying for enrolment under sections 94A or 95 will be
entitled for enrolment within a Subdivision where they satisfy the criteria
outlined in section 94A or 95, and are not qualified for enrolment but would be
qualified if they resided at an address within a subdivision and had done so for
at least a month. These amendments have no substantive effect on how
applications for enrolment from outside Australia or as a, spouse or child of an
eligible overseas elector are processed.
43. Paragraph (b) of the
definition of ‘qualified Norfolk Islander’ (subsection 95AA(1)) is
amended by items 3 and 4 to now refer to qualifications for enrolment on the
basis of residence at an address in a Subdivision, rather than residence within
a Subdivision alone. Like eligible overseas electors, Norfolk Islanders are
placed on the roll for a Subdivision only, not for a particular address within a
Subdivision. These amendments are consequential to the amendments that will
provide that enrolment will be in respect of an address within a Subdivision.
These amendments have no substantive effect on how
applications for enrolment as a Norfolk Islander are
processed.
44. Item 11 is a consequential amendment to subsection
99(5) to provide that once a person is enrolled, the validity of their enrolment
can not be questioned on the grounds that prior to applying for enrolment the
person had not in fact lived at the relevant address in the Subdivision for a
period of one month.
45. These amendments implement recommendation 7 of
the JSCEM report on the 1998 Federal Election.
46. Currently, where a person is not eligible for enrolment as the
person is not an Australian citizen, but has applied for citizenship (which is
pending), and would otherwise be entitled for enrolment in respect of residence
at an address within a Subdivision, the person may make a claim for provisional
enrolment.
47. Currently, where a person is 17 years of age and would
otherwise be entitled to enrolment in respect of
residence at an address within a Subdivision if he or she were 18 years of age,
the person may make a claim to have his or her name placed on the roll.
49. The proposed amendment repeals and substitutes a new section 101(5)
of the CEA to provide that where an elector changes their place of living from
one address within a Subdivision to another address within the same Subdivision,
and has lived at the new address for a period of one month, the elector must
provide to the DRO written notice of the new address within 21 days (that is,
within 21 days after having resided at the new address for one month).
50. The proposed amendment adds a new subsection 10
to section 104 of the CEA to provide that where the address of an elector is not
shown on the roll due to a request made under subsections 104(1) and (2) (also
known as ‘silent’ enrolment), the person is still taken to be
enrolled for the ‘silent’ address.
51. This provision
is designed to ensure that the objection provisions work consistently across all
enrolment types – that where it can be shown that a person with
‘silent’ enrolment no longer lives at their enrolled address
(whether or not that address is actually shown on the roll), and has not lived
at that address for a period of at least one month, the person’s enrolment
may be objected to.
Schedule 2 items 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 46 –
Alteration of rolls
52. These amendments allow a DRO to alter the
roll for a Subdivision in response to a written notice given by an elector
already enrolled in that Subdivision, and provide that where an address altered
under paragraphs 105(1)(ba) or (h) (that is, in response to a written notice, or
due to the changing of the name of a street or any other part of an address) the
CEA will have effect as if the elector’s name had been placed on the roll
in respect of the new address. If the alteration is to be made under paragraph
105(1)(ba) (that is, in response to a written notice provided by the elector),
the DRO must be satisfied that the elector has resided at the new address for a
period of at least one month.
53. Item 25 provides that if the DRO
receives written notice from an elector of a change of address within a
Subdivision after the issue of the writ and during the postponement period, the
address of the elector is not to be changed until after the postponement period.
The postponement period is defined for this purpose as commencing at 8pm on the
day on which the rolls close (which is currently seven days after the issue of
the writ, but is to be amended by Schedule 1 item 11 to three working days after
the issue of the writ), and will end at the close of polling.
Schedule 2 item 26 – Antarctic Electors
54. This
amendment inserts a definition of Antarctic elector in Part IX of the CEA (the
part dealing with objections to the roll). This definition is the same as that
in Part XVII. This is consequential to the amendments at items 10 to 18 to
ensure that the AEC is not required to object to the enrolment of a person
registered as an Antarctic elector, as the AEC is aware that the Antarctic
elector will be absent from their enrolled address for a period of time.
Schedule 2 items 27 to 36 – Objections to
enrolment
55. Items 27 to 36 amend the objection provisions of the
CEA so that an objection to an elector’s enrolment (whether an official or
private objection) can take place on the ground that the elector no longer lives
at their enrolled address, and has not lived at their enrolled address for a
period of at least one month last past. Under current legislation, an
elector’s enrolment can be objected to on the ground that the person is
not entitled to be enrolled for the Subdivision – that is, does not live
in the Subdivision and has not lived in the Subdivision for at least one month,
or does not meet the enrolment qualifications on other grounds. These
amendments expand on these provisions, so that non-residence at the enrolled
address (even where it can be shown that the elector has moved within the
Subdivision) is now a ground for objection, except where the elector is enrolled
as an Antarctic elector. An objection must not be made to an elector’s
enrolment on the ground that the elector no longer qualifies for enrolment for
the Subdivision (under subsection 114(1) for private objections, and 114(2) for
official objections), if the objection could be made on the ground that the
person no longer lives at their enrolled address. That is, if the elector no
longer lives at their enrolled address, as well as no longer living within their
enrolled Subdivision, any objection to their enrolment must be made on the
ground that they no longer live at their enrolled address.
56. These
items are related to Schedule 2 items 1 to 6 (Enrolment in respect of an
address), in that it is proposed that an elector will be enrolled in a
Subdivision in respect of living at an address within that Subdivision, and
where the elector does not live at that address, their enrolment may be objected
to.
57. Item 29 provides that a person enrolled for the same
Subdivision may object to an elector’s enrolment (defined as a
‘private objection’) on the basis that the elector no longer lives
at their enrolled address, and has not done so for one month last past. Item 13
provides that the DRO for the Division must object to an elector’s
enrolment (defined as an ‘official objection’) where there are
reasonable grounds for believing that the elector does not live at their
enrolled address, and has not lived at that address for a period of one month
last past.
58. Item 34 provides that where an elector’s name has
been placed on the roll in respect of a particular address, an objection has
been lodged, and the elector does not live at the address and has not lived at
the address for at least the last month, the DRO will be required to remove the
elector’s name from the roll for that Subdivision, providing the elector
is not enrolled as an Antarctic elector.
59. Antarctic electors have
been excluded as they are able to remain on the roll at their enrolled address
if they have registered with the AEC as working in Antarctica. Therefore
neither an elector, nor a DRO can object to their enrolment on the basis that
they are not living at their enrolled address.
60. These amendments also
implement recommendation 7 the JSCEM report on the 1998 Federal
Election.
Schedule 2 items 37 and 38 – Transitional provisions
61. Item 37 provides that where a person’s name and address
was on the roll for a Subdivision immediately before the commencement of this
item, the CEA will have effect after commencement as if the person’s name
had been placed on the roll in respect of that address. As section 4 of the
RMPA states that the entitlement to vote at a referendum is the same as if the
referendum were an election, the RMPA will also have effect after commencement
as if the person’s name had been placed on the roll in respect of that
address.
62. Item 37 is inserted to avoid doubt. This item does not
freeze the electoral roll at the time of commencement – the removal or
deletion of a person’s name from the roll and alteration of the roll in
accordance with the CEA are not prevented by this item.
63. Item 38
provides that any objection action under Part IX of the CEA that had begun prior
to the commencement of this item shall continue until finalised as if the
amendments to Part IX had not been made.
Schedule 2 items 39 to 45,
and 47 to 52 – Provisional voting in elections and
referendums
64. These amendments provide that if an elector casts a
provisional vote at an election because the elector’s name has been
removed from the roll since the last election by objection on the ground that
they no longer lived at their enrolled address (as outlined in Schedule 2 items
10 to 18 – Objections to enrolment), and after making enquiry the DRO is
satisfied that the elector has moved within the Division they were enrolled for
without re-enrolling, their provisional vote for both the House of
Representatives and the Senate will be admitted to scrutiny. If the elector has
moved outside the Division they were enrolled for, but is still residing within
the same State or Territory, their provisional vote for the Senate only will be
admitted. If the elector has moved outside the State or Territory they were
enrolled for, their provisional vote will not be admitted (that is, neither the
House of Representatives nor Senate ballot paper will be counted).
65.
If an elector casts a provisional vote at a referendum because the
elector’s name had been removed from the roll since the last election due
to objection action on the ground that they no longer live at their enrolled
address (as outlined in Schedule 2 items 10 to 18 – Objections to
enrolment), and after making enquiry the DRO is satisfied that the elector has
moved either within the Division or within the State or Territory they were
enrolled for without re-enrolling, their provisional vote will be admitted to
scrutiny (that is, the Referendum ballot paper will be counted).
66. In all
cases the elector’s provisional vote will not be admitted to scrutiny if a
redistribution of the State or Territory that includes the Division since the
last election, or an election (excluding the election to which the scrutiny
relates), has been held since the removal of the elector’s name from the
roll.
67. Further, the AEC will no longer be required to reinstate the
name of an elector whose provisional vote has been accepted for further scrutiny
(that is, their ballot papers will be counted) to the roll. The elector will be
required to complete a new enrolment form to re-enrol.
68. These
amendments implement recommendation 39 of the Government’s Response to the
JSCEM report on the 1998 Federal Election.
Schedule 3 –
Technical corrections
Schedule 3 items 1 and 2 –
Public Employment (Consequential and Transitional) Amendment Act
1999.
69. Items 1 and 2 make technical amendments to items 764
and 765 of Schedule 1 of the Public Employment (Consequential and
Transitional) Amendment Act 1999 which came into effect on 5 December
1999.
70. Items 764 and 765 amended the definition of “authorized
witness” in section 3 of the RMPA. However, the amendments contained in
the Public Employment (Consequential and Transitional) Act 1999
incorrectly spelt “authorised” with an “s”
rather than “authorized” with a “z”. Therefore,
the amendments were not technically correct.
71. Items 1 and 2 of
Schedule 3 correct this error. It should be noted that the amendments do not
actually amend the RMPA, they amend the Public Employment (Consequential and
Transitional) Act 1999 only.