Commonwealth Numbered Acts

REFERENDUM (MACHINERY PROVISIONS) ACT 1984 No. 44, 1984 - SECT 46

46. (1) On the voting day for a referendum, an elector is entitled-

   (a)  to vote at any polling place appointed for the Division for which he
        is enrolled; or

   (b)  to vote as an absent voter, after making a declaration in an approved
        form, at any other polling place within the State or Territory for
        which he is enrolled at which a polling booth is open.

(2) Notwithstanding sub-section (1), where a hospital is a polling place, an
elector is not entitled to vote at that polling place otherwise than under
section 48 unless an appropriate person on the staff of the hospital has
agreed to permit electors generally to vote at that polling place or unless
the elector-

   (a)  is attending the hospital as a patient or as a genuine visitor of a
        patient; or

   (b)  performs functions or duties in the hospital.

(3) A declaration made by an absent voter under sub-section (1) shall be
printed on, or securely attached to, an envelope addressed to the Divisional
Returning Officer for the Division for which the elector declares that he is
enrolled.

(4) Where an elector votes as an absent voter, he shall mark and fold his
ballot-paper in the manner prescribed by this Act and return it so folded to
the presiding officer.

(5) The presiding officer shall thereupon, in the presence of the elector, and
without unfolding the ballot-paper enclose it in the envelope referred to in
sub-section (3) of this section and shall forthwith securely fasten the
envelope and deposit it in the ballot-box.

(6) A presiding officer at a polling place shall forward to the appropriate
Assistant Returning Officer designated for the purposes of this sub-section by
the Divisional Returning Officer any ballot-box containing envelopes that bear
declarations made by absent voters under sub-section (1) and contain the
ballot-papers of absent voters, and the Assistant Returning Officer shall-

   (a)  compare the particulars on the envelopes with the particulars
        appearing in the presiding officer's record made under sub-section 34
        (2), note the number of envelopes and report any discrepancy to the
        Divisional Returning Officer;

   (b)  place in a parcel all the envelopes bearing absent voters'
        declarations relating to a particular Division, indorse on the parcel
        the number of the envelopes, seal up the parcel and forthwith deliver
        it, or cause it to be delivered, to the Divisional Returning Officer
        for that Division or, with the approval of the
        Australian Electoral Officer for the State or Territory in which the
        Division is located, to another person to be dealt with as provided in
        sub-section (8); and

   (c)  forward to the last-mentioned Divisional Returning Officer advice in
        writing of the total number of envelopes bearing absent voters'
        declarations enclosed in the parcel delivered or to be delivered to
        him.

(7) Each Divisional Returning Officer shall maintain-

   (a)  a record of the particulars of the respective advices, and the number
        of envelopes bearing absent voters' declarations, received by him from
        each Assistant Returning Officer; and

   (b)  one or more securely fastened ballot-boxes in which envelopes bearing
        absent voters' declarations received by him shall be placed forthwith.

(8) Where absent voters' ballot-papers or envelopes bearing declarations made
by absent voters relating to a particular Division are, with the approval of
the Australian Electoral Officer for the State or Territory in which the
Division is located, delivered to a person other than the Divisional Returning
Officer for that Division, that person shall, as soon as practicable, deliver
them, or cause them to be delivered, to that Divisional Returning Officer.

(9) Where the voting day for a referendum is the same as that fixed for the
polling at an election-

   (a)  a declaration made for the purposes of the election under sub-section
        222 (1) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 shall be deemed to be a
        declaration made under sub-section (1) of this section;

   (b)  the agreement of an appropriate person on the staff of a hospital
        under sub-section 222 (2) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 shall
        be deemed to be agreement under sub-section (2) of this section; and

   (c)  a ballot-paper containing the vote of a person voting as an absent
        voter under this section may be enclosed in the same envelope as that
        in which the ballot-paper containing the vote of that person voting as
        an absent voter under section 222 of the
        Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 is enclosed.