Division 7(1) The Electoral Commissioner may:(a) (Repealed)(b) appoint such polling places for each district as the Electoral Commissioner thinks necessary,(c) abolish any polling place,(d)–(f) (Repealed)(2) Notice of any appointment or abolition of a polling place under this section is to be published on the Commission’s internet website at a time determined by the Electoral Commissioner.
85 Booths to be erected or rooms hired
(1) The returning officer shall cause such booths to be erected, or rooms to be hired or otherwise provided, for taking the poll at any election at each polling place, as the convenient conduct of the election may require.(2) (Repealed)(3) Premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquor may be used for the purpose of a polling booth if, and only if, the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that, during the hours of polling on polling day:(a) intoxicating liquor will not be available for sale or consumption on the part of the premises proposed for use for the purpose of a polling booth, and(b) the part of the premises proposed for use for the purpose of a polling booth will be segregated from the part of the premises where intoxicating liquor will be available for sale or consumption, and(c) access to the part of the premises proposed for use for the purpose of a polling booth will not involve passing through the part of the premises where intoxicating liquor will be available for sale or consumption.
86 Booths—arrangements, ballot boxes etc
Every booth shall be so arranged as to have one or more inner compartments opening only into that part in which the ballot box is kept; and the polling place manager shall provide in every such compartment pencils or other writing implements for the use of the voters, and shall also provide for each booth a ballot box with a cleft or opening therein capable of receiving the ballot papers.
(1) The returning officer must assign a polling place manager to preside at each polling place.(2) The returning officer or polling place manager must assign at least one election assistant to assist in taking the poll at a polling place.(3) If the returning officer’s instrument of appointment or another instrument issued by the Electoral Commissioner authorises him or her to do so, the returning officer may act as the polling place manager at a polling place, in which case the returning officer is taken to be a polling place manager duly assigned to preside at the polling place.(4) Assignments under this section must be made in writing.(5) The functions of polling place managers and election assistants are to be as determined by the returning officer, subject to this Act and any directions of the Electoral Commissioner.(6) The functions of election assistants are to be as determined by the polling place manager, subject to this Act and any directions of the Electoral Commissioner.
87A Mobile booths in hospitals etc
(1) Where a polling place has been appointed in any convalescent home, hospital or similar institution, the returning officer shall provide such number of polling booths therein as the Electoral Commissioner may determine.(2) Where one booth is so provided such booth shall in addition to being used as a stationary booth be used as a mobile booth, and where more than one booth is so provided one or more of such booths designated by the returning officer shall be used as a mobile booth or booths. A mobile booth shall be used for the purpose of affording an opportunity to vote to every elector who:(a) is for the time being resident in the home, hospital or institution in which the booth is situated, and(b) by reason of illness or infirmity, or, in the case of a woman, by reason of approaching maternity, is unable to attend at the polling place to record the elector’s vote, and(c) has, by message to the polling place manager, requested him or her to afford the elector an opportunity to record the elector’s vote at such mobile booth.Every person to whom any such message is given for delivery to the polling place manager, shall, unless otherwise ordered, on medical grounds, by a legally qualified medical practitioner, deliver such message forthwith to the polling place manager.
Any person contravening this subsection shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding 0.5 penalty unit.
(3) Where any such message has been received by the polling place manager he or she shall direct the election official in charge of a mobile booth to afford the elector an opportunity to record the elector’s vote by visiting the elector at some time before the close of the poll. On any such visit the election official shall take with him or her the ballot box provided for the booth and shall be accompanied by another election official and such of the scrutineers appointed in respect of the booth as choose to accompany him or her.On any such visit to an elector the elector’s vote shall so far as is reasonably practicable be taken in all respects as if the vote were recorded in a polling booth under usual conditions.
No visit shall be made under this section if such visit is forbidden, on medical grounds, by a legally qualified medical practitioner.
87B Mobile booths for pre-poll voting in remote districts
(1) Electoral Commissioner’s functions
The Electoral Commissioner:(a) may declare a district to be a remote district for the purposes of this section, and(b) may determine the places in that district that a team will visit for the purposes of this section, and(c) may determine the days and times when a team will visit those places (such a day must be after the day of nomination and before polling day or a day to which the polling is adjourned), and(d) must take such steps as the Electoral Commissioner thinks fit to give public notice of:(i) the places determined under paragraph (b), and(ii) the days and times determined under paragraph (c) when a team will visit those places for the purposes of this section.(2) Teams
A team consists of 2 or more election officials, one of whom must be a pre-poll voting officer who is designated by the Electoral Commissioner as team leader. The team leader is to exercise the functions of the pre-poll voting officer under the following provisions of this section.(3) Visits and variation of places, days or times
A team must make a visit or visits as notified under subsection (1) (d), but, if the team is unable for reasonable cause, or the pre-poll voting officer considers it inappropriate, to make such a visit, the officer may substitute another place, day or time for the visit and, in that event, must:(a) take such steps as he or she thinks fit to give public notice of the substituted place, day or time, and(b) inform the Electoral Commissioner.(4) Failure to visit does not invalidate election result
Any failure by a team to make a visit in accordance with this section does not invalidate the result of the election.(5) Voting
At any time when a team is at a place for the purposes of taking votes under this section in an election:(a) the pre-poll voting officer must have a pre-poll ballot box, ballot papers and such other things as are necessary for the votes of electors to be taken at the place, and(b) every person at the place who is entitled to vote in the election for the remote district concerned is entitled to have his or her vote taken under this section, and(c) for the purposes of, and in connection with, the taking of votes under this section:(i) the place is taken to be a pre-poll voting place, and(ii) the pre-poll voting officer is taken to be the pre-poll voting officer at that pre-poll voting place, and(d) an elector’s vote is, so far as is reasonably practicable, to be taken and dealt with in all respects as if the vote were recorded at a pre-poll voting place under usual conditions, but section 114P is to be disregarded in relation to:(i) the qualifications to vote before election day, and(ii) pre-poll voting times.(6) Ballot box to be secured and forwarded to returning officer
At the end of the last visit made by a team for the purposes of this section, the pre-poll voting officer must, in the presence of any other election official assisting the officer and any scrutineers who are present:(a) publicly close, fasten, seal and take charge of the ballot box used by the officer for the purposes of this section, and(b) with the least possible delay, forward it for the purposes of scrutiny to the returning officer for the district concerned.(7) Relationship of this section to other provisions
In relation to a district declared by the Electoral Commissioner to be a remote district, and without affecting subsection (5) (d), the provisions of this section apply in addition to, and without derogation from, the application of any other provision of this Act. However, any such other provision applies with any necessary modifications.
89 Polling place managers to be furnished with copies of rolls and ballot papers
(1) Before the day of polling the returning officer shall:(a) provide for use at each polling place sufficient authorised copies of the roll for the district in which the poll is to be taken, and(b) deliver to each polling place manager, and retain, such numbers, respectively, of the ballot papers as are sufficient for the use of the electors entitled to vote at each booth at which the returning officer and polling place managers, respectively, are to take the poll,and shall keep an exact count of all those ballot papers.(1A) The returning officer shall retain for use at his or her office:(a) at least one printed authorised copy of the roll for his or her district, and(b) such number of ballot papers as he or she considers will be required for the use of electors who are permitted to vote at his or her office before polling day,and shall keep an exact count of those ballot papers.(1B) The ballot papers for a periodic Council election to be delivered or retained pursuant to subsection (1) or (1A) shall be taken from the ballot papers delivered to the returning officer for the district pursuant to section 83A (3).(2) It is the duty of an election official:(a) to initial the front of a ballot paper when issued to a voter at the polling booth at which the election official is presiding, and(b) (Repealed)(3) An authorised copy of the roll referred to in subsections (1) and (1A) is a printed or electronic copy of the roll of the electors for the district as at the date of the issue of the writ for the election for which the polling place has been declared to be a polling place, but does not include the names of any elector who will not have attained the age of 18 years on polling day.(4) A copy of a roll referred to in this section must not contain any particulars relating to a person’s occupation.
(1) Each candidate shall be entitled to appoint scrutineers on his or her behalf at each polling booth; save as is hereinafter provided such scrutineers shall be entitled to be present in that part of the booth in which the ballot papers are received.(2) A scrutineer shall not:(a) interfere with or attempt to influence any elector within the polling booth, or(b) communicate with any person in the polling booth except so far as is necessary in the discharge of his or her functions.(3) A scrutineer shall not be prevented from entering or leaving a polling booth during the polling, and, during his or her absence, a relieving scrutineer may act in his or her place; but only one scrutineer for each candidate shall be entitled to be present in a polling booth at any one time.(4) A scrutineer who commits any breach of this section, or who misconducts himself or herself, or who fails to obey the lawful directions of the returning officer or polling place manager shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding 10 penalty units or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 6 months, or both.(5) A reference in subsection (1) or (3) to a candidate shall, in relation to a candidate who is included in a group for the purpose of a periodic Council election, be construed as a reference only to the candidate first in the order, referred to in section 81C (2), in that group.(6) A scrutineer does not breach subsection (2) (a) only because the scrutineer wears or displays any badge or emblem of a candidate or political party.(7) Without limiting the generality of section 114, a scrutineer who, within a polling booth:(a) commits any breach of this section,(b) misconducts himself or herself, or(c) fails to obey the lawful directions of the returning officer or polling place manager,may, on the request of the returning officer or polling place manager at the polling booth, be removed from the polling booth by a police officer.Note. Section 137 contains provisions relating to the appointment of and declarations by scrutineers.