South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts96—Scrutiny of votes in House of Assembly election
(1) In a House of
Assembly election, the scrutiny must, subject to this Act, be conducted in the
following manner.
(2) Each assistant
returning officer must, in the presence of an assistant presiding officer or a
poll clerk, and of such authorised scrutineers as may attend—
(a) open
all ballot boxes sent to him or her, or received from polling places within or
for that portion of the district in which he or she exercises powers; and
(b)
reject all informal ballot papers, and arrange the unrejected ballot papers
under the names of the respective candidates by placing in a separate parcel
all those on which a first preference is indicated for the same candidate; and
(c)
count the first preference votes given for each candidate on all unrejected
ballot papers; and
(d) make
out and sign a statement setting out the number of first preference votes
given for each candidate, and the number of informal ballot papers; and
(e)
place in a separate parcel all the ballot papers which have been rejected as
informal; and
(f)
transmit the following information, in an expeditious manner, to the district
returning officer:
(i)
the number of first preference votes given for each
candidate; and
(ii)
the total number of ballot papers rejected as informal;
and
(g) seal
up the parcels and endorse on each parcel a description of its contents and
permit any scrutineers present, if they so desire, to countersign the
endorsement; and
(h)
transmit the parcels to the district returning officer with the least possible
delay, together with the statement specified in paragraph (d), and the
district returning officer must open all ballot boxes not opened by an
assistant returning officer and conduct the scrutiny of the ballot papers
contained in those boxes (as far as applicable) in the manner described above.
(3) From the
statements transmitted to the district returning officer by the assistant
returning officers in or for the district, and the result of the scrutiny of
the votes counted by him or her, the district returning officer will ascertain
the total number of first preference votes given for each candidate for the
district.
(4) The candidate who
has received the largest number of first preference votes is, if that number
constitutes an absolute majority of votes, elected.
(5) If no candidate
has received an absolute majority of first preference votes, the district
returning officer—
(a) must
open the sealed parcels of ballot papers received from the assistant
returning officers for the district; and
(b) must
make a fresh scrutiny of the ballot papers contained in the parcels, and, for
the purpose of that scrutiny, the district returning officer—
(i)
has the same powers as if it were the original scrutiny;
and
(ii)
may reverse any decision given by an assistant
returning officer in relation to the original scrutiny; and
(c) from
the result of the scrutiny of the votes counted by the district
returning officer and the fresh scrutiny conducted by him or her under this
subsection—must ascertain the total number of first preference votes
given for each candidate and the number of informal ballot papers; and
(d) must
proceed with the scrutiny and the counting of the votes as follows:
(i)
the candidate who has received the fewest first
preference votes will be excluded, and each ballot paper counted to that
candidate is to be counted to the candidate next in the order of the voter's
preference; and
(ii)
if no candidate then has an absolute majority of votes,
the process of excluding the candidate who has the fewest votes, and counting
each of that candidate's ballot papers to the unexcluded candidate next in the
order of the voter's preference, is to be repeated until 1 candidate has
received an absolute majority of votes; and
(iii)
the candidate who has received an absolute majority of
votes will be elected.
(6) If on any count 2
or more candidates have an equal number of votes, and one of them has to be
excluded, the district returning officer must decide which are to be excluded,
but if in the final count 2 candidates have an equal number of votes—
(a) the
matter must be referred, on the application of the Electoral Commissioner, to
the Court of Disputed Returns;
(b) the
Court must determine the validity of any disputed ballot papers;
(c) if
it then appears that the deadlock has been resolved, the Court must declare
the appropriate candidate elected, but if not, the Court must order a fresh
election.
(7)
Subsection (6) does not limit the jurisdiction of the Court of Disputed
Returns under Division 2 of Part 12 in relation to an election.
(8) In this section,
an absolute majority of votes means a greater number than one-half of the
whole number of ballot papers other than informal ballot papers.
(9) The district
returning officer must—
(a)
place in a separate parcel all the ballot papers which have been rejected as
informal; and
(b)
place in a separate parcel all the unrejected ballot papers; and
(c) seal
up the parcels and endorse on each parcel a description of its contents, and
permit any scrutineers present, if they so desire, to countersign the
endorsement.
(10) Where 3 or more
candidates stood for election in a district, then, despite the election of a
candidate, the process of excluding the candidate who has the fewest votes and
attributing his or her votes to the candidate next in order of the voter's
preference is to be continued until there are only 2 unexcluded candidates.
(11)
The Electoral Commissioner must, within 3 months after the return of the writ,
cause to be published in the Gazette a notice showing the number of votes
attributable to each of the 2 unexcluded candidates at the conclusion of the
process referred to in subsection (10).