South Australian Current Acts

ELECTORAL ACT 1985 - SECT 97

97—Re-count

        (1)         At any time before the declaration of the result of a Legislative Council election, the returning officer may, if he or she thinks fit, and must, if so directed by the Electoral Commissioner, direct a re-count of the ballot papers from any division or portion of a division, or of the ballot papers contained in any parcel or in any other category.

        (2)         A district returning officer must before the declaration of the result of a House of Assembly election have a re-count made of the relevant ballot papers.

        (2a)         In addition to the requirements of subsection (2), at any time before the declaration of the result of a House of Assembly election, the district returning officer may, if the district returning officer thinks fit, and must, if so directed by the Electoral Commissioner, conduct one or more further re-counts of the ballot papers contained in any parcel.

        (3)         The officer conducting a re-count—

            (a)         may reverse any decision taken at the scrutiny in relation to the allowance or disallowance of ballot papers; but

            (b)         is, subject to paragraph (a), bound by decisions and determinations made at the scrutiny so far as they are applicable to the re-count.

        (4)         The officer conducting a re-count may, and at the request of any scrutineer must, reserve any ballot paper for the decision of the Electoral Commissioner.

        (5)         The Electoral Commissioner must decide whether any ballot paper, reserved for the Electoral Commissioner's decision in pursuance of this section, is to be allowed and admitted or disallowed and rejected.