Commonwealth Electoral Legislation Amendment Act 1983 No. 144 of 1983 - SECT 23 Persons entitled to enrolment and to vote

Commonwealth Electoral Legislation Amendment Act 1983 No. 144 of 1983 - SECT 23

23. Section 39 of the Principal Act is amended-

   (a)  by omitting from sub-section (1) ''Subject to the disqualification set
        out in this Part, all persons not under eighteen years of age, whether
        male or female, married or unmarried'' and substituting ''Subject to
        sub-sections (5) and (6) and to Part VII, all persons'';

   (b)  by omitting paragraph (1) (a) and substituting the following
        paragraph:

''(a) who have attained 18 years of age; and'';

         (c)  by omitting from sub-section (1) ''subject to the provisions of
Part VII of this Act'';

   (d)  by omitting sub-sections (3) and (4) and substituting the following
        sub-sections:

''(2) Subject to sub-sections (3), (3A), (3B) and (4), an elector whose name
is on the Roll for a Division is entitled to vote at elections of Members of
the Senate for the State that includes that Division and at elections of
Members of House of Representatives for that Division.

''(3) An elector-

   (a)  whose name has been placed on a Roll in pursuance of a claim made
        under section 41A; and

   (b)  who has not attained 18 years of age on the date fixed for the polling
        in an election,

is not entitled to vote at that election.

''(3A) Notwithstanding section 41A or any enrolment in pursuance of a claim
made under that section, for the purposes of this Act in its application in
relation to an election, a person who has not attained 18 years of age on the
date fixed for the polling in that election shall not be taken to be-

   (a)  entitled to be enrolled on a Roll; or

   (b)  enrolled on a Roll.

''(3B) A person is not entitled to vote more than once at any Senate election
or any House of Representatives election, or at more than one election for the
Senate or for the House of Representatives held on the same day.

''(4) An elector, other than a relevant elector, is not entitled to vote at an
election as an elector of the Division in respect of which he is enrolled
unless his real place of living was, at some time within the 3 months
immediately preceding polling day for that election, within that Division.'';
and

   (e)  by adding at the end thereof the following sub-sections:

''(6) A person who-

   (a)  by reason of being of unsound mind, is incapable of understanding the
        nature and significance of enrolment and voting;

   (b)  has been convicted and is under sentence for an offence punishable
        under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory by
        imprisonment for 5 years or longer; or

   (c)  has been convicted of treason or treachery and has not been pardoned,

is not entitled to have his name placed on or retained on any Roll or to vote
at any Senate election or House of Representatives election.

''(7) In sub-section (4)-

'real place of living', in relation to a person, includes the place of living
to which the person, when temporarily living elsewhere, has a fixed intention
of returning for the purpose of continuing to live at that place;

'relevant elector' means-

   (a)  an Antarctic elector;

   (b)  an eligible overseas elector; or

   (c)  an itinerant elector.

''(8) The reference in sub-section (6) to treason or treachery includes a
reference to treason or treachery committed in relation to the Crown in right
of a State or the Northern Territory or in relation to the government of a
State or the Northern Territory.''.