Victorian Bills Explanatory Memoranda

[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]


ELECTORAL AMENDMENT (ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION) BILL 2010

         Electoral Amendment (Electoral
             Participation) Bill 2010

                        Introduction Print

               EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM


                                 General
A key objective of the Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Bill
2010 (the Bill) is to amend the Electoral Act 2002 (the Act) to increase
electoral participation.
In summary, the Bill will amend the Act to implement a number of reforms,
including, amongst other matters--
         ·   enrolment procedures on election day for those electors not on
             the electoral roll;
         ·   abolition of the "three-month rule", which uses the elector's
             principal place of residence, three months prior to election day,
             as a measure of the elector's entitlement to vote;
         ·   streamlined enrolment procedures whereby the Victorian
             Electoral Commission (the Commission) will have the power
             to enrol people on its own initiative based on information
             obtained from sources under section 26(4) of the Act;
         ·   expanding the availability of electronic voting to a wider group
             of electors;
         ·   requiring the Commission to publish how-to-vote cards on its
             website.
A number of amendments contained in the Bill relate to recommendations of
the Electoral Matters Committee in its report on its Inquiry into Voter
Participation and Informal Voting, tabled on 30 July 2009, and its report on
the provisions in the Act relating to misleading or deceptive political
advertising, tabled on 11 March 2010.




561477                               1       BILL LA INTRODUCTION 9/6/2010

 


 

Clause Notes Clause 1 sets out the purpose of the Bill which is to amend the Act to increase electoral participation and improve the operation of the Act. Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the Bill. The Bill will come into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed. However, the Bill will come into operation on 1 July 2011 if not proclaimed before that date. Clause 3 inserts a new section 23A into the Act to enable the Commission to enrol a person on the register of electors on the Commission's own initiative based on information obtained by the Commission under section 26(4) of the Act. New section 23A applies if a person who would be entitled to enrol under section 22(5) of the Act has attained 18 years of age but has not made a claim for provisional enrolment under section 23(2) of the Act. The Commission must not enrol a person in accordance with the streamlined enrolment procedures contained in new section 23A unless 21 days has lapsed from the time the person became entitled to make a claim for enrolment under subsection (2). If the Commission seeks to enrol a person in accordance with new section 23A, in accordance with subsection (2) the Commission must notify the person in writing that the Commission proposes to enrol the person in respect of the person's principal place of residence as specified in the notice, and allow the person at least 14 days after the date of the notice to advise the Commission of an objection to the enrolment in accordance with the Act, or to correct any details in the notice. Subsections (3), (4) and (5) of new section 23A set out the circumstances in which the Commission must enrol the person on the register of electors in accordance with new section 23A and specify that the Commission must advise the person in writing that the person has been registered on the register of electors. The amendments to the Act contained in clause 3 are intended to increase electoral participation by providing for an alternative mechanism of enrolment in respect of eligible persons under the Act. Clause 4 inserts a new section 23(8) in the Act to provide that if the Commission sends a person a notice in writing under section 23A(2), proceedings must not be instituted against the person for any offence against section 23(1) of the Act which occurred before the Commission sent the notice. This is a consequential amendment necessary because of clause 3 to prevent a person whom the Commission proposes to enrol under the new 2

 


 

section 23A from being prosecuted for a breach of section 23(1) of the Act. Clause 5 inserts a new section 29(3)(aa) in the Act to provide that the Commission must not include on an electoral roll prepared under section 29(1)(a) of the Act the names of any electors registered on the register of electors under new section 23A after the close of the roll. This is a consequential amendment necessary because of clause 3 which inserts new section 23A in the Act. Clause 6 inserts a new section 69A(8) in the Act to expressly provide that a request made pursuant to section 69A(1), (2) or (3) in relation to the grouping of candidates for Legislative Council elections may at any time before noon on the day before final nomination day, be amended, withdrawn or replaced by a written notice to the Commission. Clause 7 amends section 69B of the Act by substituting "may" with "must" in subsections (1), (2), (3) and (4). Amends section 69B(7) of the Act to provide that breach of existing section 69B(7) is an offence with a maximum penalty of 10 penalty units. Inserts a new section 69B(7A) in the Act to provide that for the purposes of section 69B(7) a statement is taken to be lodged by the relevant person as set out in subsection (a) of new section 69(7A). Omits "withdrawn" in section 69B(8) of the Act. Section 69B of the Act sets out the requirements in relation to the lodgement of group voting tickets relevant to requests made under section 69A(1), (2) or (3) of the Act. The intention of the amendments in clause 7 is to impose a mandatory obligation to lodge a group voting ticket in relation to requests made under section 69A(1), (2) or (3) of the Act and make it an offence to fail to lodge a group voting ticket with the Commission in accordance with section 69B(7) of the Act. Clause 8 substitutes existing section 82 of the Act with a new section 82 to provide that the Commission must as soon as practicable after registering a how-to-vote card under section 79 or 80 of the Act publish a copy of that card on an Internet website maintained by the Commission. This is in addition to the existing requirement that the Commission make available a copy of such cards for inspection at the office of the Commission. The amendment is intended to make how-vote-cards more widely accessible and is consistent with the recommendation of the Electoral Matters Committee in its report on its inquiry into the provisions of the 3

 


 

Act relating to misleading or deceptive political advertising, tabled on 11 March 2010. Clause 9 inserts new section 83(3)(aa) in the Act and also inserts "or (3)(aa)" after "(3)(a)" in section 83(4) of the Act. The intention of the amendments in clause 9 is to exempt a letter or card which bears the name and address of the sender and does not contain a representation or purported representation of a ballot-paper for the use in an election from the authorisation requirements in relation to electoral matter contained in section 83(1) of the Act. This mirrors section 238(3)(c) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and allows for a more flexible approach in relation to the authorisation requirements which apply to certain electoral matter that bears the name and address of the author, and is in keeping with the principle that those responsible for electoral material are known and accountable in the interests of a fair and transparent election process. Clause 10 inserts "subject to section 108(1)" before "is" in section 87(1)(b) of the Act. This is a consequential amendment required to allow for the amendments to the Act contained in clause 14. Clause 11 amends section 87(1) of the Act to substitute for "Act; and" "Act." in paragraph (b) and repeals paragraph (c). The amendments are intended to abolish the "three-month rule" as provided for in section 87(1)(c) of the Act. The three-month rule uses an elector's principal place of residence, three months prior to election day, as a measure of the elector's entitlement to vote. It is based on the principle that only people who live within an electorate should be able to vote for candidates in that electorate. The efficacy of the current modernised practices of the Commission in relation to the ongoing maintenance of the electoral roll since the time the three-month rule was introduced has ameliorated the need for the rule and produced significant benefits regarding the accuracy and integrity of the roll. Given progressive improvements regarding the Commission's electoral roll maintenance procedures, the amendments in clause 11 are intended to increase electoral participation in keeping with the objectives of the Bill to acknowledge that the measures and programs put in place by the Commission have mitigated the need for the three-month rule. Clause 12 substitutes section 90(3) and (4) of the Act with a new subsection (4) consequential on the amendments to the Act in clause 11, which abolish the three-month rule. 4

 


 

Clause 13 inserts a new section 106(3)(aa) in the Act to clarify the operation of the provisions in the Act regarding directions for postal voting. The amendment will enable a ballot-paper for the purposes of section 106(2)(e) to be taken to have been posted before 6 p.m. on election day if the declaration is witnessed on or before election day and the postmark on the envelope is dated with the date of the Sunday immediately after election day. This enables postal vote envelopes postmarked with the date of the Sunday immediately after election day to be assessed in the same way as in the case of no postmark being legible under section 106(3)(b) of the Act and reflects the existing practice of the Commission, which seeks to address the discordance between the provisions in section 106(3) of the Act and Australia Post mail collection procedures. Clause 14 amends section 108 of the Act to insert the new heading "Provisional voting" to reflect the other amendments to the Act contained in clause 14. Substitutes section 108(1) of the Act with a new section 108(1) to permit certain persons to cast a provisional vote and enrol on election day. New section 108(1) of the Act applies to a person who claims to be entitled to vote at an election and whose name is not on, or cannot be found on, the electoral roll. The person must complete the prescribed enrolment application and declaration form and sign it in the presence of an election official. In order to guard against potential fraud there are additional safeguards contained in clause 14 which will apply to the provisional voting process that occurs in accordance with new section 108(1). New section 108(1)(d) of the Act requires the person to provide to the satisfaction of the election official, a form of prescribed identification or the name of a prescribed service provider to enable identification of the person. Clause 15 amends section 109 of the Act concerning voting by absent voters. Clause 15 repeals section 109(2)(c) of the Act, omits "or (2)(c)" in section 109(3) of the Act and substitutes section 109(4) of the Act with a new section 109(4). The amendments in clause 15 are consequential amendments necessary to allow for the amendments to the Act in clause 11, which abolish the three-month rule. Clause 16 Substitutes existing section 110D of the Act with a new section 110D regarding the eligibility to access electronic voting. Section 110D of the Act currently restricts access to electronic voting to those electors who otherwise cannot vote without assistance because of a visual impairment. New section 110D of the Act widens the availability of electronic voting to include 5

 


 

those electors who cannot vote without assistance because of a visual impairment, a motor impairment or insufficient literacy skills (whether in the English language or in their primary spoken language). The amendment in clause 16 is intended to increase electoral participation and remove a potential impediment to the effective exercise of the right to vote for certain groups of eligible electors. Clause 17 amends sections 110E, 110G(2) and 110H(2) and (3) of the Act to make necessary amendments in order to clarify that the auditory description of ballot papers is permitted for the purposes of electronic voting under Part 6A of the Act. The amendments contained in clause 17 permit a form of electronic voting whereby eligible electors under section 110D of the Act may hear voting instructions and the names and order of the candidates and other details about the candidates as they appear on the ballot- paper and vote using a touch screen or a keypad. Clause 18 amends section 110H(1) of the Act to substitute "the person has a visual impairment that" with "any of the reasons specified in section 110D". This is a consequential amendment necessary because of clause 16 which substitutes existing section 110D in the Act with a new section 110D to expand the availability of electronic voting. Clause 19 provides for the automatic repeal of this amending Bill on 1 July 2012. 6

 


 

 


[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]