South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts (1) An elector who is
entitled, and desires, to make a declaration vote must vote in the following
manner:
(a) if
the vote is taken at a polling booth—it must be taken in the manner set
out in Division 4;
(b) if
the declaration voting papers are issued to the elector personally but not at
a polling booth—the vote must be taken before the officer issuing the
declaration voting papers;
(c) if
the declaration voting papers are issued to the elector under
section 74(2a)—the vote must be taken before an authorised witness.
(2) Subject to this
Part, if an elector makes a declaration vote otherwise than at a
polling booth, he or she must—
(a)
unless the elector is an elector referred to in section 74(3a), sign the
appropriate declaration on the envelope (which must be signed by the person
before whom the vote is taken as witness);
(b) mark
his or her vote, in private, on the ballot paper and fold it so as to conceal
the vote;
(c)
place the ballot paper in the envelope provided and seal the envelope;
(d)
—
(i)
if the vote is taken before an officer—the envelope
must then be deposited in a ballot box, or placed in another secured facility,
or immediately transmitted or caused to be transmitted by the officer before
whom the vote was taken to the appropriate returning officer;
(ii)
if the vote is taken before an authorised witness who is
not an officer—the envelope must be lodged with the returning officer
for the appropriate district before the close of poll on polling day, or
delivered or sent by post so as to reach that returning officer, before the
expiration of 7 days from the close of poll.
(3) An elector who
satisfies the person before whom he or she is to make a declaration vote
(otherwise than at a polling booth) that he or she is unable to vote without
assistance may be assisted by—
(a) the
person before whom the vote is taken; or
(b) a
person who is acceptable to that person.
(4) The assistant may
assist the voter in any of the following ways:
(a) by
acting as an interpreter;
(b) by
explaining the ballot paper and the voter's obligations under this Act in
relation to the marking of the ballot paper;
(c) by
assisting the voter to mark the ballot paper, or by marking the ballot paper
at the voter's direction;
(d) by
folding the ballot paper, placing it in the appropriate envelope and sealing
the envelope;
(e) by
assisting the voter to complete the appropriate declaration on the envelope;
(f) by
depositing the envelope in a ballot box, or lodging it with, or forwarding it
by post to, the appropriate district returning officer (as the case may
require).
(4a) A person who is
given an envelope containing a declaration vote of an elector for transmission
to a returning officer must lodge it with, or forward it by post to, the
appropriate district returning officer as soon as possible.
Maximum penalty: $1 250.
(5) Where an elector
makes a declaration vote before an officer (otherwise than in a polling booth)
the officer must make available for the assistance of the elector copies of
any how-to-vote cards and other electoral materials in the possession of the
officer that are to be exhibited in the polling booth on polling day.
(6) A person
who—
(a)
makes a declaration vote after the close of poll on polling day; or
(b) when
acting as an authorised witness to a declaration vote, falsely certifies that
the declaration vote was made before the close of poll on polling day; or
(c)
delivers or posts to a returning officer under subsection (2) an envelope
containing a declaration vote knowing that the vote was made after the close
of poll on polling day,
is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: $2 500 or imprisonment for 6 months.