Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Electoral Act 2002 - SECT 3

Definitions

3. Definitions

In this Act-

address does not include a post-office box;

Antarctica means the Australian Antarctic Territory including-

   (a)  the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands; and

   (b)  Macquarie Island;

Antarctic elector means an elector who is, in the course of the elector's
employment, in Antarctica on election day;

Assembly means the Legislative Assembly;

authorised officer means a person appointed to be an authorised officer for
the purpose of issuing infringement notices under section 167;

authorised witness means a person, not being a candidate at an election, who
is-

   (a)  wherever the vote is recorded-

   (i)  an elector; or

   (ii) named on the roll for a State or Territory of the Commonwealth; or

   (iii) an election official; and

   (b)  if the vote is recorded outside Victoria or in another country outside
        Australia-

   (i)  an Australian citizen; or

   (ii) an officer of the naval, military or air forces of Australia or of
        that other country; or

   (iii) a person employed in the Public Service of Victoria or of the
        Commonwealth or of a State or Territory of the Commonwealth or of that
        other country; or

   (iv) a Justice of the Peace for, or a minister of religion or registered
        medical practitioner resident in, a State or Territory of the
        Commonwealth or that other country; or

   (v)  a High Commissioner, Trade Commissioner or Agent-General for the
        Commonwealth or Victoria or an officer in the service of the
        Commonwealth or Victoria on the staff of a High Commissioner, Trade
        Commissioner or Agent-General; or

   (vi) a member of any police force in that other country;

ballot material means ballot-papers, electoral rolls and electoral papers;

by-election means an election at which a member of the Assembly is to be
elected to fill the place of a member of the Assembly whose seat has become
vacant otherwise than by the expiration or dissolution of the Assembly;

candidate means a person who is nominated under section 69 to stand for
election to Parliament;

Commission means the Victorian Electoral Commission established under section
6;

Commonwealth subdivision means a subdivision of an electoral division for the
election of a member of the House of Representatives under the
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918;

Council means the Legislative Council; Council election means an election at
which all the members of the Council have to be elected;

declaration vote means a vote on a ballot-paper marked under section 106, 108,
109 or 110;

district means electoral district;

election means-

   (a)  a general election; or

   (b)  a by-election; or

   (c)  a supplementary election; or

   (d)  a re-election;

election day means the day named as the election day in the writ for an
election;

elector means a person whose name appears on the register of electors;

electoral advertisement, handbill, pamphlet or notice means an advertisement,
handbill, pamphlet or notice that contains electoral matter, but does not
include an advertisement in a newspaper announcing the holding of a meeting;

electoral claim means an application or declaration made under this Act;

Electoral Commissioner means the Electoral Commissioner appointed under
section 12;

electoral paper includes any electoral claim and any prescribed form;

electoral roll means a list prepared under section 29 of the names and
addresses of electors who are eligible to vote at a particular election;

eligible overseas elector means an elector who is enrolled under section
22(3);

eligible political party means a political party that is established on the
basis of a written constitution (however described) that sets out the aims of
the party and has at least 500 members who are-

   (a)  electors; and

   (b)  members in accordance with the rules of the political party; and

   (c)  not members of another registered political party or of a political
        party applying for registration;

exit poll means the canvassing of electors at large as to how they have voted
at an election for the purpose of obtaining and publicly disseminating
information about voting trends at the election; general election means an
election at which all the members of the Assembly and all the members of the
Council have to be elected;

general postal voter means a person whose application to be a general postal
voter is accepted under section 24;

how-to-vote card means any card, handbill, pamphlet or notice that-

   (a)  is or includes a representation or partial representation or purported
        representation or purported partial representation of a ballot-paper
        for use in an election; or

   (b)  lists the names of any or all of the candidates for an election with a
        number indicating an order of voting preference against the names of
        any or all of those candidates;

infringement penalty means the amount stated in an infringement notice issued
under section 167 as payable in respect of the offence to which the notice
relates;

itinerant elector means an itinerant elector who is enrolled under section
22(4);

name, in Parts 4 and 5, includes in respect of a political party-

   (a)  the full name of a political party; or

   (b)  the initials for, or acronym of, the full name of a political party;
        or

   (c)  the abbreviation of the full name of a political party;

Order in Council means an Order of the Governor in Council published in the
Government Gazette;

organisation includes-

   (a)  a body corporate; or

   (b)  an association or other body of persons; or

   (c)  an association that consists of 2 or more organisations within the
        meaning of the preceding paragraphs; or

   (d)  a part of an organisation within the meaning of a preceding paragraph;

part, in relation to an organisation, includes-

   (a)  a branch or division of the organisation; or

   (b)  a part of a part of the organisation;

political party means an organisation whose object or activity is to promote
the election of a member of the party to Parliament;

prescribed offence means an offence specified in section 166(1);

President means the President of the Council and includes any person acting as
the President of the Council;

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

printed electoral material means an advertisement, handbill, pamphlet or
notice that contains electoral matter;

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publish means publish by any means including by publication on the Internet;
region means electoral region;



register of electors means the register of electors for Victoria established
and maintained under section 21 that contains the names and addresses of all
electors and the particulars required under the Act;

Register of Political Parties means the Register of Political Parties
established under section 43;

registered how-to-vote card means a how-to-vote card registered under section
77 or 79;

registered medical practitioner means-

   (a)  a medical practitioner registered under the
        Health Professions Registration Act 2005; or

   (b)  a person registered or licensed as a medical practitioner under the
        law of any other State or of a Territory of the Commonwealth, being a
        law that provides for the registration or licensing of medical
        practitioners;

registered political party means a political party that is registered under
Part 4;

relevant period, in relation to an election, means the period that-

   (a)  starts on the day a writ is issued for the election; and

   (b)  ends at 6 p.m. on election day.

secretary, in relation to a political party, means the person who holds the
office (however described) the duties of which involve responsibility for the
carrying out of the administration, and for the conduct of the correspondence,
of the party;

silent elector means an elector whose address is not on an electoral roll
because of a request made under section 31;

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Speaker means the Speaker of the Assembly and includes any person acting as
the Speaker of the Assembly;

Tribunal means the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal established
under the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998;

voting centre means a place appointed by the Commission for voting at an
election as-

   (a)  an early voting centre;

   (b)  a mobile voting centre;

   (c)  an election day voting centre.