Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

REFERENDUM (MACHINERY PROVISIONS) ACT 1984 - SECT 50

             (1)  Notwithstanding any arrangement in force under section 48 or 49, a visit under that section to a patient in a hospital shall not be made if the presiding officer or electoral visitor, as the case may be, is informed by a registered medical practitioner or a member of the staff of the hospital that such a visit is forbidden, on medical grounds, by a registered medical practitioner.

             (2)  Literature relating to a referendum may be supplied to the general office of a hospital to which section 48 or 49 applies, and any literature so supplied shall be made available on request to patients entitled to vote under that section.

          (2A)  A presiding officer or electoral visitor who visits a patient under section 48 or 49 may, at the request of the patient, give the patient literature relating to the referendum.

             (3)  So far as is practicable, a vote under section 48 or 49 shall be taken as if it were taken under the other provisions of this Act (including the provisions relating to absent voting) and, in particular, in the application of this Act for the purposes of subsection 48(5) or 49(4A), this Act has effect as if:

                     (a)  a person who, with the approval of an appropriate person on the staff of the hospital, enters or remains in a room, ward or other place in the hospital at a time when, under that subsection, it is to be treated as if it were a part of a polling booth were, for the purposes of section 135, doing so by permission of the presiding officer there present;

                     (b)  paragraph 35(a) were omitted and the following paragraph were substituted:

                           "(a)  mark his or her vote on the ballot‑paper in a manner that ensures the secrecy of the vote;";

                     (c)  paragraph 35(c) were omitted; and

                     (d)  the words "enter an unoccupied compartment of the booth with the voter, and" were omitted from subsection 36(1).

             (4)  Subsection 131(1) applies in relation to a hospital that is a polling place and in relation to a special hospital within the meaning of section 49 as if:

                     (a)  the reference in that subsection to voting day and to all days to which the voting is adjourned were a reference to the period commencing on the day of the issue of the writ for the referendum and ending at the expiration of voting day or, if the voting is adjourned, the expiration of the last day to which the voting is adjourned; and

                     (b)  the references in that subsection to a polling booth were references to the hospital or special hospital, as the case may be.

             (5)  Where an elector has voted under section 48 or 49 at a referendum, any postal ballot‑paper received by the Divisional Returning Officer that is, or that purports to be, a postal ballot‑paper of the elector shall not be admitted in the scrutiny in relation to the referendum.

             (6)  The DRO for a Division shall, not later than 4 p.m. on the day before voting day, display prominently in his or her office a notice specifying the hospitals in the Division that are polling places and indicating the periods during which votes will be taken under section 48 at each hospital.

          (6A)  The DRO for a Division shall, at least 7 days before the day, or the first day, on which votes are to be taken under section 49 at a hospital in the Division, display prominently in his or her office a notice specifying:

                     (a)  the hospitals in the Division at which votes are to be taken under section 49; and

                     (b)  the days on which, and the times at which, votes will be taken at each of those hospitals.

          (6B)  Where it is not practicable for votes to be taken under section 49 on a day, or at a time, specified in a notice under subsection (6A), the electoral visitor shall inform the Divisional Returning Officer accordingly.

          (6C)  On being so informed, the Divisional Returning Officer shall take such steps as he or she thinks fit to give public notice of another day on which, or another time at which, the votes will be taken.

             (7)  As far as is reasonably practicable, votes taken under section 48 or 49 shall be taken on the day or days and at the time or times specified in the relevant notice under subsection (6), (6A) or (6C), but any failure to take those votes in that manner does not invalidate the result of the referendum.