ELECTORAL ACT 2017 - SECT 259 Penalty notices for offence of failing to vote

ELECTORAL ACT 2017 - SECT 259

259 Penalty notices for offence of failing to vote

(1) The Electoral Commissioner must, after every election, prepare a list of the names of the electors who were entitled to vote at the election and did not vote.

(2) If an elector is indicated on a list as not having voted at the election, the Electoral Commissioner, within 3 months after the election day concerned, must issue a penalty notice to the elector.

(3) A penalty notice is a notice to the effect that, if the elector does not wish to have the failure to vote dealt with by a court, the person may, within the time specified in the notice--

(a) give the Electoral Commissioner a sufficient reason for the failure, or

(b) pay to the Electoral Commissioner a penalty, specified in the notice, not exceeding $55.

(4) An elector must not, in response to a penalty notice issued under this section, make a statement that gives a reason for the failure of an elector to vote that the elector knows to be false or misleading in a material particular.

: Maximum penalty--1 penalty unit.

(5) The Fines Act 1996 applies to a penalty notice issued under this section.

Note : The Fines Act 1996 provides that, if a person issued with a penalty notice does not wish to have the matter determined by a court, the person may pay the amount specified in the notice and is not liable to any further proceedings for the alleged offence.

(6) The Electoral Commissioner is not required to issue a penalty notice to an elector if it appears to the Commissioner that the elector has a sufficient reason for the failure to vote.

(7) If, in response to a penalty notice and within the time specified for the response--

(a) the Electoral Commissioner is given a sufficient reason for the failure to vote, or

(b) the penalty specified in the notice is paid to the Electoral Commissioner,

no person is liable to any further proceedings for the alleged offence.

(8) If, in response to a penalty notice, the Electoral Commissioner is given a reason for the failure to vote, but the reason is not a sufficient reason, the Electoral Commissioner is to include a statement to that effect in any penalty reminder notice issued under the Fines Act 1996 .

(9) For the purposes of this section, it is a
"sufficient reason" for the failure of an elector to vote at an election if the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that the elector--

(a) was absent from New South Wales on election day, or

(b) was ineligible to vote at the election, or

(c) had an honest belief that abstention from voting was part of his or her religious duty, or

(d) had a lack of mental capacity (as certified by a registered medical practitioner), or

(e) was unable, for any reason acceptable to the Electoral Commissioner, to vote at the election.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is not a sufficient reason for the failure of an elector to vote at an election that the elector did not know that an election was being conducted.

(10) In this section, a reference to the
"time specified" , in relation to a response to a penalty notice is a reference to--

(a) the time for response specified in the notice, or

(b) if the Electoral Commissioner extends that time (whether before or after its expiration)--the extended time.