Commonwealth Numbered Acts

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (ELECTION) ACT 1997 No. 128 of 1997 - SECT 102

Determination that computerised scrutiny applies

(1) This section applies to the *scrutiny in an election for a particular
State or Territory if the Electoral Commissioner, before the *close of the
poll, makes a written determination that this section applies to the scrutiny
of votes for that State or Territory.

Determining election result

(2) Each DRO must deal as follows with all ballot-papers received by him or
her:

   (a)  reject any ballot-papers that are informal because of paragraphs
        105(1)(a), (b) or (c), and place the rejected ballot-papers in one or
        more parcels;

   (b)  arrange the ballot-papers that are not Part A invalid within the
        meaning of subsection 105(6) into parcels by placing under the name of
        each candidate all the ballot-papers on which a first preference is
        indicated for that candidate;

   (c)  reject any of the ballot-papers which are informal because of
        paragraph 105(1)(d), and place the rejected ballot-papers in one or
        more parcels;

   (d)  place in a parcel or parcels all the ballot-papers received by the
        DRO, other than:

        (i)    the ballot-papers referred to in paragraph (b); and

        (ii)   the ballot-papers rejected as informal;

   (e)  seal up all the parcels and endorse on each parcel a description of
        the contents, and permit any scrutineers present, if they so desire,
        to countersign the endorsement;

   (f)  as soon as possible, *transmit the parcel or parcels referred to in
        paragraph (d) to the AEO;

   (g)  transmit the following information to the AEO:

        (i)    the number of first preference votes given for each candidate
               on ballot-papers referred to in paragraph (b);

        (ii)   the total number of ballot-papers rejected as informal.

Processing of ballot-papers received by Australian Electoral Officer

(3) The AEO must scrutinise all the ballot-papers received by him or her, and
must reject the informal ones.

Determining election result

(4) The AEO must then ascertain the successful candidates, and their order of
election, by using a computer to apply the principles set out in subsections
101(8) to (30) (inclusive). A tie at any step in the process is to be resolved
in the same way as a tie in the corresponding step is resolved under section
101.

Rights of scrutineers

(5) For proceedings under subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the
requirements of subsection 94(2) are met if the scrutineers have access to:

   (a)  a record of the preferences on the ballot-papers that have been
        received by the AEO and whose details have been stored in the computer
        (including informal ballot-papers, and formal ballot-papers that are
        not sequentially numbered); and

   (b)  a record of the ballot-papers that are notionally transferred, or
        exhausted, at each count; and

   (c)  a record of the progress of the count of the votes, at each count.

Modified rules for recount

(6) If ballot-papers that are to be recounted under section 112 are in the
possession of the AEO immediately before the recount begins, the AEO must deal
with those ballot-papers as follows:

   (a)  open the parcels (or those ballot-papers that are in parcels) in the
        presence of an officer of the Australian Public Service and of any
        scrutineer who attends;

   (b)  scrutinise all the ballot-papers, and make a decision on each one
        either to admit it or reject it;

   (c)  after scrutinising all the ballot-papers, restore the ones that were
        in parcels to their original covers, and place the remaining
        ballot-papers in a parcel or parcels;

   (d)  seal up all the parcels and write on each cover:

        (i)    the number of ballot-papers contained in the cover; and

        (ii)   a statement that all the ballot-papers have been the subject of
               decisions by the AEO;

   (e)  sign the cover of each parcel and permit other persons who were
        present when the ballot-papers were scrutinised to add their
        signatures.

Resolution of tie on re-calculation

(7) If:

   (a)  a re-calculation by computer occurs following a recount; and

   (b)  during the re-calculation, the same tie that occurred on the previous
        calculation by computer occurs again; for the purposes of the
        re-calculation that tie is to be resolved in favour of the candidate
        in whose favour it was resolved during the previous calculation.