Commonwealth Numbered Acts

Commonwealth Electoral Legislation Amendment Act 1983 No. 144 of 1983 - SECT 61

61. Section 85 of the Principal Act is amended-

         (a)  by omitting from paragraph (1) (b) ''five miles'' and
substituting ''8 kilometres'';

   (b)  by inserting after paragraph (1) (c) the following paragraphs:

''(ca) is, at a place other than a hospital, caring for a person who is
seriously ill or infirm or approaching maternity and by reason of caring for
the person will be precluded from attending at any polling booth to vote;

   (cb) will throughout the hours of polling on polling day be a patient in a
        hospital (other than a special hospital) unable to vote at that
        hospital;

   (cc) will-

        (i)    throughout the hours of polling on polling day be a patient in
               a special hospital; and

        (ii)   be unable to have his vote taken at that hospital in accordance
               with section 113C;'';

   (c)  by omitting from sub-paragraph (1) (d) (ii) ''or'' (last occurring);

   (d)  by omitting paragraph (1) (e) and substituting the following
        paragraph:

''(e) is, by reason of-

        (i)    serving a sentence of imprisonment; or

        (ii)   being otherwise in lawful custody or detention,

precluded from attending at any polling booth to vote,'';

   (e)  by omitting from sub-section (1) ''make application'' and substituting
        ''apply, either orally or in writing,'';

   (f)  by omitting sub-sections (2) and (2A) and substituting the following
        sub-sections:

''(2) A written application in relation to an election or elections may be in
the approved form for the election or elections, as the case may be, and
shall-

   (a)  contain a declaration by the applicant that he is an elector who is
        entitled to apply for a postal vote certificate and postal
        ballot-paper;

   (b)  be signed by the applicant in the presence of an elector (or, if the
        applicant is outside Australia, in the presence of one of the persons
        specified in sub-section 91B (1A)); and

   (c)  be made, after the issue of a writ for the election, to a Divisional
        Returning Officer (or, if the applicant is outside Australia, to an
        Assistant Returning Officer at a place outside Australia).

''(2A) An oral application-

   (a)  shall include the following statements:

        (i)    a statement of the grounds upon which the person making the
               application applies for a postal vote certificate and postal
               ballot-paper;

        (ii)   a statement specifying the Division for which he is enrolled;

        (iii)  a statement of such other particulars (if any) as are
               prescribed; and

   (b)  shall be made, not earlier than the date of nomination for the
        election or elections concerned, to-

        (i)    a Divisional Returning Officer at his Office;

        (ii)   a postal voting officer at an appointed place on a day that is,
               and during hours that are, declared by the Commission, by
               notice published in the Gazette, to be an appointed day and
               appointed hours for the purposes of this section; or

        (iii)  an Assistant Returning Officer for a place outside Australia at
               his office at that place.

''(2B) A written application in relation to an election shall be deemed not to
have been duly made if it reaches the officer to whom it is made after 6
o'clock in the afternoon of the day immediately preceding polling in that
election.

''(2C) An oral application shall be deemed not to have been duly made if it is
made after the closing of the polling for the election.''; and

   (g)  by adding at the end thereof the following sub-section:

''(5) The Electoral Commission may, by notice in writing published in the
Gazette, declare a place to be an appointed place for the purposes of this
Part.''.