In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears –

approved means approved by the Commission;

Assembly means the House of Assembly of the Parliament of Tasmania;

Assembly by-election means an election to elect a Member in respect of an Assembly division pursuant to a writ issued under section 64 ;

Assembly division means a division, determined in accordance with the Constitution Act 1934 , for the return of Members to represent the electors of that division in the Assembly;

Assembly election means an election to elect Members in respect of an Assembly division and includes an Assembly by-election;

Assembly general election means the elections held or to be held contemporaneously to elect Members in respect of all Assembly divisions pursuant to writs issued under section 63 ;

ballot material means ballot papers, postal vote applications, declaration vote envelopes and postal vote declaration envelopes;

ballot paper means a ballot paper prepared under section 96 or 101 ;

ballot paper name means –

(a) in respect of a registered party, the name appearing in the party register in accordance with section 52(2)(b) ; and

(b) in respect of a candidate, the name referred to in section 80 ;

candidate means a person who has been publicly announced as a candidate under section 87 ;

candidate roll means the candidate roll prepared under section 39 ;

carriage service provider has the same meaning as in the Telecommunications Act 1997 of the Commonwealth;

close of poll means 6 p.m. on polling day;

close of roll in relation to an election, means 6 p.m. on the day of issue of the writ for the holding of that election;

Commission means the Tasmanian Electoral Commission established under section 6 ;

Commissioner means the Electoral Commissioner appointed under section 14 ;

Commonwealth Act means the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 of the Commonwealth;

Commonwealth roll means the roll of the electors for the State of Tasmania required by section 81 of the Commonwealth Act;

communicate , in relation to electoral matter, means print, publish, display, distribute, produce, or broadcast, the electoral matter, by any means, including electronically, by social media or by the internet, by electronic phone or by a communication sent to an electronic address at which the communication may be available to a person;

constitutional documents , in relation to a party, means the written set of principles and rules (however described) under which the party is governed;

corrupt practice means an offence that is a crime by virtue of this Act;

Council means the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Tasmania;

Council by-election means an election to elect a Member in respect of a Council division pursuant to a writ issued under section 66 ;

Council division means a division, determined in accordance with the Constitution Act 1934 , for the return of a member to represent the electors of that division in the Council;

Council election means an election to elect a Member in respect of a Council division and includes a Council by-election;

Council periodic election means an election held or to be held to elect a Member in respect of a Council division pursuant to a writ issued under section 65 ;

declaration vote means a vote marked on a ballot paper issued under section 118 ;

declaration vote envelope means a declaration vote envelope referred to in section 118 ;

deputy registered officer means a person whose name appears in the party register as the deputy registered officer of a party;

disclosure entity , in relation to electoral matter, means a person, or entity, who or that –

(a) is a candidate in relation to an election to which the electoral matter relates; or

(b) is a registered party; or

(c) is a Member; or

(d) is a significant political donor, within the meaning of the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023 , in relation to an election to which the electoral matter relates; or

(e) is an associated entity, within the meaning of the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023 ; or

(f) is a third-party campaigner, within the meaning of the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023 , in relation to an election to which the electoral matter relates; or

(g) was a candidate in –

(i) an Assembly election in the previous 5 years; or

(ii) a Council election in the previous 7 years;

division means an Assembly division or a Council division;

division roll means a division roll prepared and kept under section 37 ;

election means an Assembly election or a Council election;

election agent means a person appointed under section 158 ;

election expenditure has the meaning given by section 5 ;

election official means a person appointed under section 26 ;

election roll means the election roll prepared under section 39 ;

elector means a person whose name appears on a roll;

electoral matter  – see section 4 ;

entity means –

(a) an incorporated or unincorporated body; or

(b) the trustee of a trust;

existing party means a registered party or a registered political party, within the meaning of the Commonwealth Act;

expenditure limit means the expenditure limit referred to in section 160 ;

expenditure period means –

(a) in the case of a Council periodic election, the period beginning on 1 January in the year in which the election is to be held and ending at the close of poll; or

(b) in the case of a Council by-election, the period beginning on the day on which the seat of a Member of the Council becomes vacant and ending at the close of poll;

first preference , in relation to a vote recorded for a candidate at an election, means the recording of the number "1" in the box next to the candidate's name on a ballot paper used at the election;

functions includes duties;

how to vote card means a card, handbill or pamphlet (or an electronic document or electronic representation of a card, handbill or pamphlet) –

(a) that –

(i) is, or includes, a representation of a ballot paper, or part of a ballot paper, for an election or is apparently intended to represent a ballot paper, or part of a ballot paper, for an election; and

(ii) is apparently intended to affect, or is likely to affect, how votes are cast for any or all of the candidates in the election; or

(b) that lists the names of 2 or more of the candidates or registered parties in an election, with a number indicating the order of voting preference in conjunction with the names of 2 or more of the candidates or parties; or

(c) that otherwise directs or encourages the casting of votes in an election in a particular way, other than a card, handbill or pamphlet that only relates to first preference votes or that only relates to last preference votes;

illegal practice means an offence under this Act that is not a corrupt practice or an offence under section 181 , and includes aiding, abetting or instigating the commission of, and attempting or conspiring to commit, such an offence;

informal ballot paper means a ballot paper which is informal as specified in section 103 ;

inspector means a person who is, under section 200D , an inspector;

intending candidate means a person who has publicly declared his or her intention to seek election as a Member;

listed carriage service has the same meaning as in section 16 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 of the Commonwealth;

Member means a Member of the Council or the Assembly;

mobile polling place means a place referred to in section 92(3) ;

nomination day , in relation to an election, means the day fixed under section 67(1) or section 73(1)(a) on or before which candidates for election are to be nominated;

nomination form means a form referred to in section 77 ;

ordinary polling place means a place referred to in section 92(1) ;

party means a group of persons, whether incorporated or not, that exists for political purposes and includes any branch in Tasmania of such a group that is established outside Tasmania;

party name means the name appearing in the party register in accordance with section 52(2)(a) ;

party register means the register maintained by the Commission pursuant to section 52 ;

party secretary means the secretary or, if there is no position of secretary, the chief administrative officer (however described) of a party;

polling day , in relation to an election, means the day fixed or specified under section 67(1)(b) on which polling for that election is to be held in the event of the election being contested;

polling place means a place referred to in section 91 ;

postal vote means a vote marked on a ballot paper issued under section 128 ;

postal vote declaration envelope means a postal vote declaration envelope referred to in section 128 ;

pre-poll polling place means a place referred to in section 92(2) ;

prisoner means a person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment for an offence against a law of the State, another State, a Territory or the Commonwealth;

public body name means the name, or an abbreviation or acronym of the name, of a prominent corporation or organisation;

publish means publish by any means including by publication on the internet;

registered member means a person whose name appears in the party register as a registered member of a party;

registered officer means a person whose name appears in the party register as the registered officer of a party;

registered party means a party, the name of which appears in the party register as a registered party;

returning officer means a person appointed under section 24 or 25 ;

roll means the State roll, a division roll or an election roll;

scrutineer means a person appointed under section 104 ;

social media means internet-based, or mobile broadcasting-based, technology or applications, if –

(a) the sole or primary purpose of the technology or application is to enable social interaction between 2 or more end-users; and

(b) the technology or application allows end-users to link to, or interact with, some or all of the other end-users; and

(c) the technology or application is a means by which a person may create and share content generated by the person –

and includes technology or applications known as internet forums, blogs, wikis, text messaging and online or mobile broadcasting social networks;

State roll means the State roll prepared and kept under section 30 ;

voting screen means a compartment in which a person may mark a ballot paper without any other person seeing how the ballot paper is marked.