New South Wales Consolidated Acts

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTORATES AND ELECTIONS ACT 1912 - SECT 114

114 Maintenance of order

(1) Every police officer shall have and may exercise such powers as may be necessary to maintain order and keep the peace at any election or polling under this Act, and for that purpose and without prejudice to any other powers conferred on him or her by law:

(a) may:

(i) without warrant, arrest or cause to be arrested any person who he or she has reasonable grounds to believe is committing or has committed or is attempting to commit an offence under this Act at or in the immediate vicinity of any polling place or, where the office of the returning officer is open to enable electors to vote before polling day, at or in the vicinity of that office, or

(ii) instead of arresting or causing the arrest of the person, remove or cause the removal of that person from the polling place or immediate vicinity of that polling place or, as the case may be, from the office of the returning officer or immediate vicinity of that office, and

(b) may remove or cause to be removed from a polling booth and from the immediate vicinity of the polling booth, and, where the office of the returning officer is open to enable electors to vote before polling day, from that office and from the immediate vicinity of that office, any person:

(i) who, having been given a lawful direction by or under the authority of the returning officer or polling place manager, fails to comply with that direction,

(ii) who is obstructing the access or approaches to the polling booth or, as the case may be, to that office,

(iii) who is obstructing or unnecessarily delaying the proceedings at the polling booth or, as the case may be, at that office, or

(iv) who is behaving in a disorderly manner or is causing a disturbance.

(2) Any person arrested under subsection (1) shall, as soon as practicable thereafter, be taken before a Magistrate or an authorised officer within the meaning of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 to be dealt with according to law for the offence for which he or she was arrested.

(3) Every returning officer and polling place manager may give such directions as are necessary to maintain order at any election or polling under this Act.

(4) A person must not, without lawful authority, contravene any such direction.

Maximum penalty (subsection (4)): 5 penalty units.