Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

COMMONWEALTH ELECTORAL ACT 1918 - SECT 272

             (1)  For the purposes of section 273, where:

                     (a)  a ballot‑paper in a Senate election has been marked in accordance with subsection 239(2) by a mark having been placed in a square printed above the names of candidates in a group; and

                     (b)  the candidates in that group have only one group voting ticket registered for the purposes of that election;

that ballot‑paper shall be deemed to have been marked in accordance with that ticket.

             (2)  For the purposes of section 273, where:

                     (a)  in a Senate election, a ballot‑paper has, or ballot‑papers have, been marked in accordance with subsection 239(2) by a mark having been placed in a square printed above the names of candidates in a group; and

                     (b)  the candidates in that group have 2 group voting tickets registered for the purposes of that election;

then:

                     (c)  if the number of ballot‑papers is an even number--half of the ballot‑papers shall be taken to have been marked in accordance with one of the tickets and the other half in accordance with the other ticket; or

                     (d)  if the number of ballot‑papers is not an even number:

                              (i)  one of the ballot‑papers shall be deemed to have been marked in accordance with whichever of the 2 tickets is determined by lot by the Australian Electoral Officer for the relevant State or Territory; and

                             (ii)  half the remainder (if any) of the ballot‑papers shall be deemed to have been marked in accordance with one of the tickets and the other half in accordance with the other ticket.

             (3)  For the purposes of section 273 where:

                     (a)  in a Senate election a ballot‑paper has, or ballot‑papers have, been marked in accordance with subsection 239(2) by a mark having been placed in a square printed above the names of candidates in a group; and

                     (b)  the candidates in that group have 3 group voting tickets registered for the purposes of that election;

then:

                     (c)  if the number of ballot‑papers is a number divisible by 3 without any remainder--one‑third of the ballot‑papers shall be taken to have been marked in accordance with one of the tickets, one‑third of the ballot‑papers shall be taken to have been marked in accordance with another one of the tickets and the other one‑third in accordance with the other ticket;

                     (d)  if there is only one ballot‑paper or the number of ballot‑papers is a number divisible by 3 with a remainder of 1:

                              (i)  the ballot‑paper or one of the ballot‑papers shall be deemed to have been marked in accordance with whichever of the 3 tickets is determined by lot by the Australian Electoral Officer for the relevant State or Territory; and

                             (ii)  one‑third of the remainder of the ballot‑papers (if any) shall be deemed to have been marked in accordance with one of the tickets, one‑third of that remainder shall be deemed to have been marked in accordance with another one of the tickets and the other one‑third of that remainder shall be deemed to have been marked in accordance with the other ticket; or

                     (e)  if there are 2 ballot‑papers or the number of ballot‑papers is a number divisible by 3 with a remainder of 2:

                              (i)  one of the ballot‑papers shall be taken to have been marked in accordance with whichever of the 3 tickets is determined by lot by the Australian Electoral Officer for the relevant State or Territory;

                             (ii)  one of the ballot‑papers shall be taken to have been marked in accordance with whichever of the other 2 tickets is determined by lot by the Australian Electoral Officer for the relevant State or Territory; and

                            (iii)  one‑third of the remainder of the ballot‑papers (if any) shall be deemed to have been marked in accordance with one of the tickets, one‑third of that remainder shall be deemed to have been marked in accordance with another one of the tickets and the other one‑third of that remainder shall be deemed to have been marked in accordance with the other ticket.

             (4)  Subsection (5) applies if, and only if, effect cannot be given to subsection (2) or (3), as the case requires, for any reason.

             (5)  For the purposes of section 273, where:

                     (a)  a ballot‑paper in a Senate election has been marked in accordance with subsection 239(2) by a mark having been placed in a square printed above the names of candidates in a group; and

                     (b)  the candidates in that group have 2 or 3 group voting tickets registered for the purposes of that election;

then, to the extent that the preferences shown in each ticket commencing with the first preference are the same, the voter shall be taken to have marked the ballot‑paper so as to express those preferences and the voter shall be taken not to have expressed any further preferences.

             (6)  Where, in a Senate election, a ballot‑paper has, or ballot‑papers have, been marked in accordance with subsection 239(2) by a mark having been placed in a square printed above the name of a candidate who has lodged a statement under section 211A, this section applies to that ballot‑paper or those ballot‑papers as if:

                     (a)  a reference to the candidates in a group were a reference to the candidate;

                     (b)  a reference to the names of the candidates in a group were a reference to the name of the candidate; and

                     (c)  a reference to a group voting ticket or group voting tickets registered for the purposes of the election were a reference to the order of preferences, or the orders of preferences, given in that statement, as the case may be.