151H   Prohibition of canvassing near polling places

(1)  The following acts are, on polling day, and on all days to which the polling is adjourned, prohibited at an entrance of or within a polling place or in any public or private place within 6 metres of an entrance to a polling place, namely:

(a)  canvassing for votes,

(b)  soliciting the vote of any elector,

(c)  inducing any elector not to vote for any particular candidate,

(d)  inducing any elector not to vote at the election.

(e)  (Repealed)

Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.

(2)  A person commits an offence against this subsection if:

(a)  on polling day, or on a day to which the polling is adjourned, the person engages in any of the following activities:

(i)  canvassing for votes,

(ii)  soliciting the vote of an elector,

(iii)  inducing an elector not to vote for a particular candidate,

(iv)  inducing an elector not to vote at the election, and

(b)  the person engages in that activity 6 metres or more from an entrance to a polling place, and

(c)  the person uses any of the following to engage in that activity:

(i)  a loud speaker,

(ii)  a public address system,

(iii)  an amplifier (whether fixed or mobile),

(iv)  a broadcasting van,

(v)  a sound system,

(vi)  radio equipment,

(vii)  any other equipment or device for broadcasting, and

(d)  that activity is audible:

(i)  within the polling place, or

(ii)  at an entrance to the polling place, or

(iii)  within 6 metres of an entrance to the polling place.

Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.

(3)  Subsection (2) applies whether the person engages in the activity in a public place or a private place.

(4)  Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), a reference to canvassing for votes includes a reference to distributing electoral material as defined for the purposes of section 151F, whether or not the material is registered in accordance with section 151G.

Note. Section 151J contains provisions concerning what forms part of a polling place for the purposes of this section where the polling place is a building within an enclosure.