Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

REFERENDUM (MACHINERY PROVISIONS) ACT 1984 - SECT 46A

             (1)  A presiding officer at a polling place shall forward to the Assistant Returning Officer designated for the purposes of this subsection by the Divisional Returning Officer any ballot‑boxes containing envelopes bearing certificates or declarations made by persons who have cast declaration votes and which purport to contain the ballot‑papers of such voters, together with records that the presiding officer has made in accordance with paragraph 67(2)(e) and subsection 34(2).

          (1A)  A pre‑poll voting officer who:

                     (a)  receives an envelope bearing a postal vote certificate and purporting to contain a postal ballot‑paper; or

                     (b)  places a ballot‑paper in an envelope under subsection 73D(7);

shall forward the envelope, together with the record made under paragraph 67(2)(e) or subsection 73F(2), as the case may be, in relation to the receipt or issue of the envelope, to the Divisional Returning Officer for the Division for which the pre‑poll voting officer is appointed.

          (1B)  Envelopes and records required to be forwarded under subsection (1A) shall be so forwarded according to the instructions of the Divisional Returning Officer.

             (2)  An Assistant Returning Officer to whom a ballot‑box is forwarded under subsection (1) or subsection 49(8), 49A(7) or 51(10) shall:

                     (a)  compare the particulars on the envelopes with the particulars appearing in the relevant records forwarded to the Assistant Returning Officer under this Act, note the number of envelopes and report any discrepancy to the Divisional Returning Officer;

                     (b)  place in a parcel all the envelopes contained in such ballot‑boxes, endorse on the parcel the number of envelopes contained in the parcel, seal up the parcel and forthwith deliver it, or cause it to be delivered, to the Divisional Returning Officer; and

                     (c)  forward to the Divisional Returning Officer advice in writing of the total number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations enclosed in the parcel delivered or to be delivered to the Divisional Returning Officer.

             (3)  Each Divisional Returning Officer shall:

                     (a)  maintain a record of the particulars of the advices, and of the number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, received from each Assistant Returning Officer and pre‑poll voting officer;

                     (b)  until they are dealt with under other provisions of this Act, keep the envelopes received from Assistant Returning Officers and pre‑poll voting officers in one or more securely fastened ballot‑boxes; and

                     (c)  compare the record referred to in paragraph (a) with the envelopes received and note any discrepancy.

          (3A)  Each DRO to whom ballot‑boxes are forwarded, or by whom ballot‑boxes are collected, as mentioned in paragraph 67(6)(b):

                     (a)  must compare the records forwarded to or collected by the DRO as mentioned in paragraph 67(6)(d) with the envelopes in the ballot‑boxes and note any discrepancy; and

                     (b)  except as necessary for the purposes of paragraph (a), keep the envelopes in one or more securely‑fastened ballot‑boxes until the envelopes are dealt with under other provisions of this Act.

             (4)  A Divisional Returning Officer shall:

                     (a)  place in a parcel all the envelopes bearing certificates or declarations and relating to a particular Division and records relating to that Division, endorse on the parcel the number of the envelopes, seal up the parcel and forthwith deliver it, or cause it to be delivered, to the Divisional Returning Officer for that Division or, with the approval of the Australian Electoral Officer for the State or Territory that includes that Division, to another person to be dealt with in accordance with subsection (5); and

                     (b)  forward to the last‑mentioned Divisional Returning Officer advice in writing of the total number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations enclosed in the parcel delivered or to be delivered to that Divisional Returning Officer.

             (5)  Each Divisional Returning Officer shall:

                     (a)  maintain a record of the particulars of the advices, and of the number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, received from other Divisional Returning Officers or from persons referred to in subsection (7) or (9);

                     (b)  maintain a locked and sealed ballot‑box labelled so as to identify it as a declaration vote ballot‑box; and

                     (c)  keep in that ballot‑box, until the scrutiny, all envelopes bearing a certificate or declaration and purporting to contain a ballot‑paper recording a declaration vote in relation to his or her Division that, in accordance with subsection (5A), are received within sufficient time to be taken into account in the scrutiny.

          (5A)  An envelope referred to in paragraph (5)(c) is received by a DRO within sufficient time to be taken into account in the scrutiny if it is received by the DRO within 13 days after the close of the poll (whether directly from the voter or from another DRO or a person referred to in subsection (7) or (9)).

             (6)  Before placing in the ballot‑box maintained under subsection (5) an envelope purporting to contain a postal ballot‑paper and delivered to a Divisional Returning Officer which is received after the close of the poll and which does not bear evidence sufficient to satisfy the Divisional Returning Officer that the vote contained in the envelope was recorded before the close of the poll, the Divisional Returning Officer shall endorse on the envelope the date of its receipt and shall initial the endorsement.

             (7)  Where envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, or records, relating to a particular Division are, with the approval of the Australian Electoral Officer for the State or Territory that includes that Division, delivered to a person other than the Divisional Returning Officer for that Division, that person shall, as soon as practicable, deliver them, or cause them to be delivered, to that Divisional Returning Officer.

             (8)  An Assistant Returning Officer at a place outside Australia shall forward envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, together with the relevant records made by the officer under paragraph 67(2)(e) or subsection 73F(2), to such person as is specified in a written direction given to that Assistant Returning Officer by the Electoral Commissioner.

             (9)  Where envelopes and records relating to a particular Division are forwarded under subsection (8) to a person other than the Divisional Returning Officer for that Division, that person shall, as soon as practicable, deliver them, or cause them to be delivered, to that Divisional Returning Officer.