76—Method of voting at elections
(1) In a Legislative
Council election a voter must mark his or her vote on the ballot paper as
follows:
(a) by
placing the number 1 in the square printed opposite the name of the
candidate for whom he or she votes as his or her first preference and
consecutive numbers in the squares printed opposite the names of other
candidates so as to indicate the order of preference for not less than
12 candidates in total (or, if there are 12 or fewer candidates in
the election, so as to indicate the order of preference for all remaining
candidates); or
(b) if
the ballot paper contains 1 or more group voting squares—by placing
the number 1 in the square that relates to the group of candidates for
whom the voter votes as his or her first preference and, if the voter so
desires, by placing the number 2 and consecutive numbers in the
group voting squares that relate to other groups of candidates in the order of
the voter's preference for them (but not so as to be required to indicate a
preference for all groups of candidates).
(2) In a House of
Assembly election, a voter must mark his or her vote on the ballot paper by
placing the number 1 in the square opposite the name of the candidate for whom
he or she votes as his or her first preference, and consecutive numbers in the
squares opposite the names of the remaining candidates so as to indicate the
order of preference for all candidates.
(3) For the purposes
of this Act, where a voter places a tick or a cross on a ballot paper, the
tick or cross will be taken to be equivalent to the number 1.