registered officer, in relation to a registered political party, has the same meaning as the expression has in Part XIV of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 by virtue of section 4C of that Act.

registered political party has the same meaning as in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.

(1) A scrutineer appointed under section 27 shall not:

(a)

interfere with or attempt to influence any elector within a polling booth; or

(b)

communicate with any person in a polling booth except so far as is necessary in the discharge of his or her functions.

Penalty: $1,000 or imprisonment for 6 months, or both.

(2) A scrutineer appointed under section 27 shall not be prevented from entering or leaving a polling booth during the voting at a referendum.
(2A) A person who is in a polling booth in the capacity of a scrutineer shall wear a badge, supplied by the Electoral Commission, that identifies the person as a scrutineer.
(3) A scrutineer appointed under section 27 who commits any breach of this section, or who is guilty of misconduct at a polling booth, or who fails at a polling booth to obey the lawful directions of the presiding officer at the polling booth, may be removed from the polling booth by any constable or by a person authorized by the presiding officer to remove the scrutineer.

(1) The voting at a referendum shall be conducted as follows:

(a)

before any vote is taken at a polling booth, the presiding officer at that polling booth shall exhibit each ballot-box that is to be used for the referendum empty, and shall then securely fasten its cover;

(b)

each polling booth shall open at 8 o'clock in the morning on the voting day and shall not close until all the electors who are present in the polling booth at 6 o'clock in the afternoon on the voting day and who desire to vote at the referendum have voted;

(c)

the doors of each polling booth shall be closed at 6 o'clock in the afternoon on the voting day and no person shall be admitted to the polling booth after that hour for the purpose of voting;

(d)

except where the scrutiny is to be proceeded with immediately after the close of voting at a polling booth, at the close of the voting each presiding officer at a polling booth shall, in the presence of a polling official and of any scrutineers appointed under section 27 who are at the polling booth, close, fasten, seal and take charge of each ballot-box used for the referendum and with the least possible delay forward the ballot-box for the purpose of scrutiny.

(2) A ballot-box used for a referendum shall not be opened except in accordance with this Act or, if the ballot-box has been used for both the referendum and an election, in accordance with this Act or the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.

(1) The presiding officer shall put the following questions to each person attending before the presiding officer and claiming to vote at a referendum or referendums:

(a)

What is your full name?

(b)

Where do you live?

(c)

Have you voted before at this referendum? or Have you voted before at these referendums? (as the case requires).

(2) In addition to the questions put under subsection (1), the presiding officer shall ask each person claiming to vote as an absent voter to identify the Division for which the person is enrolled.
(4) If the answers a person (the claimant) claiming to vote gives to the questions in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) do not satisfy the presiding officer that the claimant is a particular person on the certified list of voters, the officer may ask the claimant one or more other questions about matters shown on the list for the particular person, to establish whether the claimant is that particular person.
(5) Subject to section 37, if a person claiming to vote at a referendum to whom questions are put under this section:

(a)

refuses to answer fully any question so put; or

(c)

answers a question specified in paragraph (1)(c) in the affirmative;

the person's claim to vote shall be rejected.

(1) Where the voting day for a referendum is the same as that fixed for the polling at an election, the answers by a person claiming to vote at the referendum to the questions put under section 229 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 for the purposes of the election may, if they are satisfactory as regards the election, be accepted as sufficient to enable the person to vote at the referendum.
(2) Where a presiding officer accepts, pursuant to subsection (1), the answers by a person to the questions referred to in that subsection as sufficient to enable the person to vote at a referendum, the presiding officer may, if he or she thinks fit, put to the person claiming to vote the following question, namely, Have you already voted, either here or elsewhere, at this referendum (or these referendums, as the case requires)?
(3) If a person claiming to vote at a referendum when the question referred to in subsection (2) is put does not answer the question or answers that question in the affirmative, the person's claim to vote shall be rejected.

(1) The claim of a person to vote at a referendum shall not be rejected by reason only:

(a)

that the person's Christian or given name has been omitted from the Roll or from a certified list of voters; or

(b)

of the entry in the Roll or in a certified list of voters of a wrong Christian or given name, a wrong sex, a wrong date of birth, a wrong address or of a wrongly spelt surname;

if, in the opinion of the presiding officer, the person is sufficiently identified.

(2) The claim of a female elector to vote at a referendum shall not be rejected by reason only that she has changed her surname by reason of marriage and that that change has not been reflected in the Roll.

(1) Subject to section 37, the presiding officer or a polling official at each polling booth shall hand to each person claiming to vote at a referendum a ballot-paper duly initialled by the presiding officer if:

(a)

the name under which the person claims to vote is on the certified list of voters used at the polling booth, and the person's answers to the questions referred to in sections 30 and 31 show that he or she is entitled to vote; or

(b)

the person claims to vote pursuant to provisions of this Act relating to absent voting and complies with those provisions.

(2) A presiding officer shall, at the request of a scrutineer appointed under section 27, note any objection by the scrutineer to the right of any person to vote at a referendum, and shall keep a record of all objections.

(1) If the name of a person claiming to vote at a referendum appears on the certified list of voters at the polling booth at which the person claims to vote, the presiding officer or a polling official at the polling booth shall, immediately after handing to the person a ballot-paper, place a mark against the person's name on the certified list of voters.

Except as otherwise prescribed, a person voting at a polling booth at a referendum shall, upon receipt of a ballot-paper:

(a)

retire alone to an unoccupied voting compartment at the polling booth and mark, in private, his or her vote on the ballot-paper;

(b)

fold the ballot-paper so as to conceal his or her vote and place it in the ballot-box; and

(c)

leave the booth.

(1) If any voter satisfies the presiding officer at a polling booth that his or her sight is so impaired or that the voter is so illiterate or physically incapacitated as to be unable to vote without assistance, the presiding officer shall permit a person appointed by the voter to enter an unoccupied voting compartment of the booth with the voter, and mark, fold and deposit the voter's ballot-paper.
(1A) A presiding officer who is visiting a patient under section 48 or 49 for the purpose of taking the patient's vote must explain to the patient the effect of subsection (1) of this section.
(2) If a voter referred to in subsection (1) fails to appoint a person pursuant to subsection (1), the presiding officer, in the presence of such scrutineers appointed under section 27 as are present, or, if there are no scrutineers appointed under that section present, in the presence of:

(a)

a polling official;

(b)

if the voter so desires, a person appointed by the voter;

shall mark, fold and deposit the voter's ballot-paper.

(3) Without limiting the generality of subsection (2), a voter to whom that subsection applies may indicate to the presiding officer the manner in which the voter wishes the presiding officer to mark the ballot-paper for the voter by presenting to the presiding officer a statement in writing (which may be, or include, a how-to-vote card) that specifies the manner in which the ballot-paper is to be marked.
(4) Where subsection (1) applies in relation to a provisional or absent voter, the presiding officer shall:

(a)

fill in the declaration referred to in subsection 37(2) or 46(1) with the required particulars as given by the voter;

(b)

read the declaration to the voter;

(c)

complete and attest the declaration; and

(d)

cause the declaration to be witnessed by a scrutineer or, if no scrutineer is present, by a polling official.

(1) If the presiding officer at a polling place is satisfied that a voter is unable to enter the polling place because of physical disability, illness, advanced pregnancy or other condition, the presiding officer may allow the voter to vote outside the polling place, in close proximity to the polling place.
(2) Before allowing the voter to vote outside the polling place, the presiding officer must:

(a)

inform any scrutineers at the polling place that the voter is to vote outside the polling place; and

(b)

allow scrutineers to be present when the voter votes.

(3) Subject to subsection (5), the voter:

(a)

must mark his or her vote on the ballot-paper in the presence of a polling official; and

(b)

must fold the ballot-paper so as to conceal his or her vote, and hand the ballot-paper to the polling official.

(4) The polling official must ensure that the folded ballot-paper is immediately returned to the polling place and put in the ballot-box in the presence of any scrutineers who were present when the voter voted.
(5) If the voter also satisfies the presiding officer that he or she is unable to vote without assistance, the presiding officer may, with the voter's consent, allow a polling official to mark and fold the voter's ballot-paper.
(6) The voter must indicate to the polling official how the voter wishes the polling official to mark the voter's ballot-paper.
(7) Without limiting the methods by which the voter may indicate, for the purposes of subsection (6), how the voter wishes to vote, the voter may present to the polling official a statement in writing (which may be, or include, a how-to-vote card) specifying how the ballot-paper is to be marked.
(8) If subsection (5) applies to an absent or provisional voter, the polling official must:

(a)

fill in the declaration referred to in subsection 37(2) or 46(1) with the required particulars as requested by the voter; and

(b)

read the declaration to the voter; and

(c)

complete and attest the declaration; and

(d)

cause the declaration to be witnessed by a scrutineer, or, if no scrutineer is present, by a polling official.

(1) This section applies to a person claiming to vote if:

(a)

the person's name cannot be found on the certified list of voters for the Division for which the person claims to vote; or

(b)

the person's name is on the certified list of voters for a Division but his or her address does not appear on the list; or

(c)

the presiding officer has asked the person one or more questions under subsection 30(4) about matters shown on the certified list of voters for a particular person to establish whether the person is that particular person and one of the following applies:

(i)

the person's answers do not accord with the relevant information shown for that particular person on the list;

(ii)

the person's answers accord with the relevant information shown for that particular person on the list but the officer is not satisfied that the person is that particular person;

(iii)

the person refused to answer fully; or

(d)

a mark on the certified list of voters used at the polling place indicates that the person has already voted at that polling place.

(2) A person to whom this section applies may cast a provisional vote if the person signs a declaration in the approved form on an envelope addressed to the DRO for the Division for which the voter is, or claims to be, enrolled.
(3) The person shall sign the declaration in the presence of a polling official.
(4) The polling official shall then sign the declaration as witness, adding the date.
(5) Before issuing a ballot-paper to the person, a polling official shall give the person a statement in writing in the approved form explaining the effect of this section and indicating the steps that will be taken if the person cast a provisional vote.
(6) A person who casts a provisional vote shall fold the ballot-paper and hand it to the polling official who issued it.
(7) The polling official shall, in the presence of the voter, without unfolding the ballot-paper, place it in the envelope bearing the voter's declaration, fasten the envelope and place the envelope in the ballot-box.
(8) The Assistant Returning Officer who opens the ballot-box shall deal with the envelope according to section 46A.

Where the voting day for a referendum is the same as that fixed for the polling at an election:

(a)

a declaration made for the purposes of the election under section 235 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 shall be deemed to be a declaration made under subsection 37(2) of this Act; and

(b)

a ballot-paper containing the vote of a person claiming to vote pursuant to section 37 of this Act may be enclosed in the same envelope as that in which the ballot-paper containing the vote of the person under section 235 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 is enclosed.

(1) If a person voting at a referendum, before depositing a ballot-paper in a ballot-box, satisfies the presiding officer at the polling booth at which the person is voting that the person has spoilt the ballot-paper by mistake or accident, the presiding officer shall provide the person with a new ballot-paper and shall cancel the spoilt ballot-paper.
(2) If a person voting at a referendum in a manner that will involve a ballot-paper being placed in an envelope satisfies the officer who issued the ballot-paper that, before the ballot-paper was placed in the relevant envelope, he or she spoilt the ballot-paper by mistake or accident, the officer shall provide the person with a new ballot-paper and shall cancel the spoilt ballot-paper.
(3) An officer who has cancelled a spoilt ballot-paper shall:

(a)

write "spoilt" on the back of the ballot-paper;

(b)

place the ballot-paper in an envelope, seal the envelope and write on the envelope an indication of the type of ballot-paper enclosed and that it is spoilt; and

(c)

sign the envelope.

(4) The envelopes containing spoilt ballot-papers cancelled at a polling place shall be sealed up in a parcel which shall be given to the DRO for the Division after the close of voting.

(1) The presiding officer may temporarily suspend the voting at a referendum for a period if the presiding officer is satisfied that the suspension of voting during that period is justified because of:

(a)

riot or open violence; or

(b)

the threat of riot or open violence; or

(c)

storm, tempest, flood or an occurrence of a similar kind; or

(d)

a health hazard; or

(e)

a fire or the activation of fire safety equipment (such as sprinklers or alarms); or

(f)

any other reason related to:

(i)

the safety of voters; or

(ii)

difficulties in the physical conduct of the voting.

(2) If:

(a)

the voting day for a referendum is the same as that fixed for the polling at an election; and

(b)

the presiding officer at a polling booth temporarily suspends the polling at the polling booth for a period under section 240A of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918;

the presiding officer must temporarily suspend the voting at the referendum at the polling booth for the same period.

(1) The presiding officer at a polling booth may adjourn the voting at a referendum at that polling booth from day to day if the voting is interrupted by:

(a)

riot or open violence; or

(b)

the threat of riot or open violence; or

(c)

storm, tempest, flood or an occurrence of a similar kind; or

(d)

a health hazard; or

(e)

a fire or the activation of fire safety equipment (such as sprinklers or alarms); or

(f)

anything else related to:

(i)

the safety of voters; or

(ii)

difficulties in the physical conduct of the voting.

(2) If from any cause any polling booth at a polling place is not opened on the voting day at a referendum the presiding officer at the polling booth may

Where:

(a)

the voting day for a referendum is the same as that fixed for the polling at an election; and

(b)

the presiding officer at a polling booth adjourns the polling at the election to a particular day pursuant to section 241 or 242 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918;

the presiding officer shall adjourn the voting at the referendum to the same day.

Where the voting at a referendum is adjourned at a polling place, only those electors:

(a)

who are enrolled for the Subdivision for which the polling place is appointed; or

(b)

who are, by virtue of section 37, entitled to vote as electors of that Subdivision;

and who have not already voted, are entitled to vote during the adjourned voting at that polling place.

(1) It is the duty of every elector to vote at a referendum.
(2) The Electoral Commissioner must, after the voting day at a referendum, being a referendum the voting day for which was not the same as that fixed for the polling at a Senate election or a general election of members of the House of Representatives, prepare for each Division a list of the names and addresses of the electors who appear to have failed to vote at the referendum.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), within the period of 3 months after the voting day at a referendum, each DRO must:

(a)

send a penalty notice by post; or

(b)

arrange for a penalty notice to be delivered by other means;

to the latest known address of each elector whose name appears on the list prepared under subsection (2).

(4) The DRO is not required to send or deliver a penalty notice if he or she is satisfied that the elector:

(a)

is dead; or

(b)

was absent from Australia on the voting day for the referendum; or

(c)

was ineligible to vote at the referendum; or

(d)

had a valid and sufficient reason for failing to vote.

(5) A penalty notice is a notice in an approved form notifying the elector that:

(a)

the elector appears to have failed to vote at the referendum; and

(b)

it is an offence to fail to vote at a referendum without a valid and sufficient reason for the failure; and

(c)

if the elector does not wish to have the apparent failure to vote dealt with by a court, the elector may, within the prescribed time:

(i)

if the elector did vote as required by this Act—give the DRO particulars of the circumstances of the elector's voting; or

(ii)

if the elector failed to vote—give the DRO a valid and sufficient reason for the failure; or

(iii)

pay to the DRO a penalty of $20.

(6) If an elector does not respond to a penalty notice in the manner indicated in subparagraph (5)(c)(i), (ii) or (iii), within the prescribed time, the DRO must send by post or deliver to the elector, at his or her latest known address, a second penalty notice, having, subject to subsection (7), the same form as the first such notice but bearing a notation to the effect

(a)

as if it were a penalty notice issued under subsection (3); and

(b)

as if, in the provisions of this section as so applied, references to paragraphs and subparagraphs of subsection (5) included references to those paragraphs and subparagraphs as applied by this section.

(8) If, within the prescribed time:

(a)

an elector responds to a penalty notice in the manner indicated in subparagraph (5)(c)(i) or (ii) and the DRO to whom the response has been given is satisfied:

(i)

in the case of a response of the kind referred to in subparagraph (5)(c)(i)—that the elector did vote as required by this Act; or

(ii)

in the case of a response of the kind referred to in subparagraph (5)(c)(ii)—that the reason for the failure to vote is a valid and sufficient reason; or

(b)

an elector responds to a penalty notice by paying the penalty of $20;

proceedings against the elector for a contravention of subsection (14) are prohibited.

(9) If the DRO to whom a response to a penalty notice has been given under subparagraph (5)(c)(i) or (ii) within the prescribed time is not satisfied:

(a)

in the case of a response of the kind referred to in subparagraph (5)(c)(i)—that the elector voted as required by this Act; or

(b)

in the case of a response of the kind referred to in subparagraph (5)(c)(ii)—that the reason for the failure to vote is a valid and sufficient reason;

the DRO must send by post or deliver to the elector, at his or her latest known address, a notice in an approved form, notifying the elector that:

(c)

the DRO is not so satisfied; and

(d)

if the elector does not wish to have the apparent failure to vote without a valid and sufficient reason for such failure dealt with by a court, he or she may, within the prescribed time, pay to the DRO a penalty of $20.

(10) If, in response to a notice under subsection (9), the penalty of $20 is paid to the DRO within the prescribed time, proceedings against the elector for a contravention of subsection (14) are prohibited.
(11) If an elector is unable, by reason of absence from his or her place of living or physical incapacity, to respond to a penalty notice or to a notice under subsection (9) within the prescribed time, any other elector who has a personal knowledge of the facts may, subject to the regulations, respond to the notice within that time, and such response is to be treated as compliance by the first-mentioned elector with the notice.
(12) The DRO must prepare a list of all electors to whom a penalty notice has been sent or delivered and note on that list in relation to each elector:

(a)

whether there has been a response to the notice; and

(b)

if there has been a response:

(i)

whether the DRO is satisfied that the elector did in fact vote or that there was a valid and sufficient reason for the elector's failure to vote; or

(ii)

whether the penalty has been paid.

(13) The DRO must note on the list prepared under subsection (12) in relation to each elector to whom a notice under subsection (9) has been sent or delivered:

(a)

the fact that a notice has been sent or delivered under subsection (9); and

(b)

whether there has been a response to the notice; and

(c)

if there has been a response—whether the penalty has been paid.

(13A) Without limiting the circumstances that may constitute a valid and sufficient reason for not voting, the fact that an elector believes it to be part of his or her religious duty to abstain from voting constitutes a valid and sufficient reason for the failure of the elector to vote.
(14) An elector is guilty of an offence if the elector fails to vote at a referendum.

Penalty: $50.

(14A) Strict liability applies to an offence against subsection (14).

Note: For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.

(14B) Subsection (14) does not apply if the elector has a valid and sufficient reason for the failure.

Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (14B) (see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code).

(14C) An elector who makes a statement in response to a penalty notice or to a notice under subsection (9) that is, to his or her knowledge, false or misleading in a material particular is guilty of an offence.

Penalty: $50.

(15) Proceedings for an offence against this section may be instituted only by the Electoral Commissioner or an officer authorised, in writing, for the purpose by the Electoral Commissioner.
(16) In this section, elector does not include:

(a)

an Antarctic elector; or

(b)

an eligible overseas elector; or

(c)

an itinerant elector.

(17) In this section, a reference to the prescribed time for a response to a penalty notice or a notice under subsection (9) is a reference to the time for response specified in the notice.

(1) On the voting day for a referendum, an elector is entitled:

(a)

to vote at any polling place appointed for the Division for which he or she is enrolled; or

(b)

to vote as an absent voter, after making a declaration in an approved form, at any other polling place within the State or Territory for which he or she is enrolled at which a polling booth is open.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where a hospital is a polling place, an elector is not entitled to vote at that polling place otherwise than under section 48 unless an appropriate person on the staff of the hospital has agreed to permit electors generally to vote at that polling place or unless the elector:

(a)

is attending the hospital as a patient or as a genuine visitor of a patient; or

(b)

performs functions or duties in the hospital.

(3) A declaration made by an absent voter under subsection (1) shall be printed on, or securely attached to, an envelope addressed to the Divisional Returning Officer for the Division for which the elector declares that he or she is enrolled.
(4) An elector who votes as an absent voter shall mark and fold the ballot-paper in the manner prescribed by this Act and return it so folded to the presiding officer.
(5) The presiding officer shall thereupon, in the presence of the elector, and without unfolding the ballot-paper enclose it in the envelope referred to in subsection (3) of this section and shall forthwith securely fasten the envelope and deposit it in the ballot-box.

(a)

a declaration made for the purposes of the election under subsection 222(1) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 shall be deemed to be a declaration made under subsection (1) of this section;

(b)

the agreement of an appropriate person on the staff of a hospital under subsection 222(2) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 shall be deemed to be agreement under subsection (2) of this section; and

(c)

a ballot-paper containing the vote of a person voting as an absent voter under this section may be enclosed in the same envelope as that in which the ballot-paper containing the vote of that person voting as an absent voter under section 222 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 is enclosed.

(1) A presiding officer at a polling place shall forward to the Assistant Returning Officer designated for the purposes of this subsection by the Divisional Returning Officer any ballot-boxes containing envelopes bearing certificates or declarations made by persons who have cast declaration votes and which purport to contain the ballot-papers of such voters, together with records that the presiding officer has made in accordance with paragraph 67(2)(e) and subsection 34(2).
(1A) A pre-poll voting officer who:

(a)

receives an envelope bearing a postal vote certificate and purporting to contain a postal ballot-paper; or

(b)

places a ballot-paper in an envelope under subsection 73D(7);

shall forward the envelope, together with the record made under paragraph 67(2)(e) or subsection 73F(2), as the case may be, in relation to the receipt or issue of the envelope, to the Divisional Returning Officer for the Division for which the pre-poll voting officer is appointed.

(1B) Envelopes and records required to be forwarded under subsection (1A) shall be so forwarded according to the instructions of the Divisional Returning Officer.
(2) An Assistant Returning Officer to whom a ballot-box is forwarded under subsection (1) or subsection 49(8), 49A(7) or 51(10) shall:

(a)

compare the particulars on the envelopes with the particulars appearing in the presiding officer's record made under subsection 34(2) or in any other records forwarded by the presiding officer, note the number of envelopes and report any discrepancy to the Divisional Returning Officer;

(b)

place in a parcel all the envelopes contained in such ballot-boxes, endorse on the parcel the number of envelopes contained in the parcel, seal up the parcel and forthwith deliver it, or cause it to be delivered, to the Divisional Returning Officer; and

(c)

forward to the Divisional Returning Officer advice in writing of the total number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations enclosed in the parcel delivered or to be delivered to the Divisional Returning Officer.

(3) Each Divisional Returning Officer shall:

(a)

maintain a record of the particulars of the advices, and of the number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, received from each Assistant Returning Officer and pre-poll voting officer;

(b)

until they are dealt with under other provisions of this Act, keep the envelopes received from Assistant Returning Officers and pre-poll voting officers in one or more securely fastened ballot-boxes; and

(c)

compare the record referred to in paragraph (a) with the envelopes received and note any discrepancy.

(4) A Divisional Returning Officer shall:

(a)

place in a parcel all the envelopes bearing certificates or declarations and relating to a particular Division and records relating to that Division, endorse on the parcel the number of the envelopes, seal up the parcel and forthwith deliver it, or cause it to be delivered, to the Divisional Returning Officer for that Division or, with the approval of the Australian Electoral Officer for the State or Territory that includes that Division, to another person to be dealt with in accordance with subsection (5); and

(b)

forward to the last-mentioned Divisional Returning Officer advice in writing of the total number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations enclosed in the parcel delivered or to be delivered to that Divisional Returning Officer.

(5) Each Divisional Returning Officer shall:

(a)

maintain a record of the particulars of the advices, and of the number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, received from other Divisional Returning Officers or from persons referred to in subsection (7) or (9);

(b)

maintain a locked and sealed ballot-box labelled so as to identify it as a declaration vote ballot-box; and

(c)

keep in that ballot-box, until the scrutiny, all envelopes bearing a certificate or declaration and purporting to contain a ballot-paper recording a declaration vote in relation to his or her Division that, in accordance with subsection (5A), are received within sufficient time to be taken into account in the scrutiny.

(5A) An envelope referred to in paragraph (5)(c) is received by a DRO within sufficient time to be taken into account in the scrutiny if it is received by the DRO within 13 days after the close of the poll (whether directly from the voter or from another DRO or a person referred to in subsection (7) or (9)).
(6) Before placing in the ballot-box maintained under subsection (5) an envelope purporting to contain a postal ballot-paper and delivered to a Divisional Returning Officer which is received after the close of the poll and which does not bear evidence sufficient to satisfy the Divisional Returning Officer that the vote contained in the envelope was recorded before the close of the poll, the Divisional Returning Officer shall endorse on the envelope the date of its receipt and shall initial the endorsement.
(7) Where envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, or records, relating to a particular Division are, with the approval of the Australian Electoral Officer for the State or Territory that includes that Division, delivered to a person other than the Divisional Returning Officer for that Division, that person shall, as soon as practicable, deliver them, or cause them to be delivered, to that Divisional Returning Officer.
(8) An Assistant Returning Officer at a place outside Australia shall forward envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, together with the relevant records made by the officer under paragraph 67(2)(e) or subsection 73F(2), to such person as is specified in a written direction given to that Assistant Returning Officer by the Electoral Commissioner.
(9) Where envelopes and records relating to a particular Division are forwarded under subsection (8) to a person other than the Divisional Returning Officer for that Division, that person shall, as soon as practicable, deliver them, or cause them to be delivered, to that Divisional Returning Officer.

In sections 48, 49 and 50, patient, in relation to a hospital, does not include a person attending the hospital as an out-patient.

(1) In this section, hospital means a hospital that is a polling place.
(2) Where:

(a)

a patient in a hospital is an elector for the State or Territory in which the hospital is situated; and

(b)

the patient wishes to vote at the hospital;

the presiding officer shall visit the patient for the purpose of taking the patient's vote.

(3) When visiting the patient, the presiding officer shall:

(a)

take to the patient a ballot-box, a ballot-paper, and anything else necessary to enable the patient to vote; and

(b)

be accompanied by a polling official and such scrutineers (if any) as wish to attend.

(4) A visit to a patient shall be made between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on voting day or a day to which voting is adjourned.
(5) While the presiding officer is in the same room, ward or other place as the patient, this Act applies in relation to the taking of the vote of the patient as if the room, ward or place were part of a polling booth at a polling place.
(6) A polling booth at a hospital shall be attended by a polling official at all times when the presiding officer is absent from the booth for the purpose

(1) The Electoral Commission may, by notice published in the Gazette, at any time, declare the whole or a specified part of a hospital, not being a hospital that is a polling place, to be a special hospital for the purposes of this section.
(2) The Electoral Commission may appoint electoral visitors in relation to a specified referendum.
(3) Where:

(a)

a patient at a special hospital wishes to vote at the hospital; and

(b)

the patient is an elector for the State or Territory in which the hospital is situated;

an electoral visitor shall visit the patient for the purpose of taking the patient's vote.

(4) When visiting the patient, the electoral visitor shall:

(a)

take to the patient a ballot-box, a ballot-paper, and anything else necessary to enable the patient to vote; and

(b)

be accompanied by a polling official and such scrutineers (if any) as wish to attend.

(4A) While the electoral visitor is in the same room, ward or other place as the patient, this Act applies in relation to the taking of the patient's vote as if the room, ward or place were part of a polling booth at a polling place.
(5) A visit or visits to a special hospital shall be made at such time or times between 8 o'clock in the morning and 6 o'clock in the afternoon, and on such day or days, being any of the 5 days preceding voting day, voting day, or a day to which the voting is adjourned, as are determined by the Electoral Commission in relation to the special hospital.
(6) At any time when an electoral visitor is visiting a special hospital for the purposes of this section, the special hospital shall, for the purposes of, and in connection with, the taking of votes under this section, be deemed to be a polling booth at a polling place and the electoral visitor shall, for those purposes, be deemed to be the presiding officer at that booth.
(7) Paragraph 29(1)(a) does not apply to an electoral visitor after the first visit made by the visitor for the purposes of this section.
(8) At the end of the last visit made by an electoral visitor for the purposes of this section, the visitor shall, in the presence of a polling official and any scrutineers appointed under section 27 who may be in attendance, publicly close, fasten, seal and take charge of each ballot-box used by the visitor for the purposes of this section and, with the least possible delay, forward it for the purposes of scrutiny to the appropriate Assistant Returning Officer designated for the purposes of this subsection by the Divisional Returning Officer.

(1) The Electoral Commission may make arrangements with the Controller-General of Prisons for a State or Territory for the taking of the votes of persons confined in prisons in the State or Territory who are entitled to vote in a referendum.
(2) The Electoral Commission may appoint electoral visitors for the purposes of this section in relation to a specified referendum.
(3) If arrangements in force under subsection (1) are applicable to a prison, an electoral visitor must visit the prison for the purpose of taking the votes of persons who:

(a)

are confined in the prison; and

(b)

are entitled to vote in the referendum; and

(c)

are electors for the State or Territory in which the prison is situated.

(4) When visiting a prison, an electoral visitor shall:

(a)

take to the prison a ballot-box, ballot-papers and anything else necessary for the taking of votes at the prison; and

(b)

subject to subsection (5), be accompanied by a polling official and such scrutineers (if any) as wish to attend.

(5) A visit to a prison shall be made:

(a)

on such day;

(b)

at such time; and

(c)

in accordance with such conditions;

as are fixed by or under the arrangements applicable to the prison.

(6) In spite of arrangements in force under subsection (1), a visit to a prison may not be made if the electoral visitor is informed by the officer in charge of the prison or a member of the staff of the prison that the visit is forbidden by the officer in charge because of circumstances related to the security of the prison.
(7) At the end of a visit by an electoral visitor to a prison, the visitor shall, in the presence of the polling official and any scrutineers who are in attendance at the prison, close, fasten, seal and take charge of each ballot-box used in the visit and, without delay, forward it to the Assistant Returning Officer designated for the purposes of this subsection by the DRO.
(8) An electoral visitor who visits a prison may, at the request of an elector confined in the prison, give the elector literature relating to the referendum.

(1) Notwithstanding any arrangement in force under section 48 or 49, a visit under that section to a patient in a hospital shall not be made if the presiding officer or electoral visitor, as the case may be, is informed by a registered medical practitioner or a member of the staff of the hospital that such a visit is forbidden, on medical grounds, by a registered medical practitioner.
(2) Literature relating to a referendum may be supplied to the general office of a hospital to which section 48 or 49 applies, and any literature so supplied shall be made available on request to patients entitled to vote under that section.
(2A) A presiding officer or electoral visitor who visits a patient under section 48 or 49 may, at the request of the patient, give the patient literature relating to the referendum.
(3) So far as is practicable, a vote under section 48 or 49 shall be taken as if it were taken under the other provisions of this Act (including the provisions relating to absent voting) and, in particular, in the application of this Act for the purposes of subsection 48(5) or 49(4A), this Act has effect as if:

(a)

a person who, with the approval of an appropriate person on the staff of the hospital, enters or remains in a room, ward or other place in the hospital at a time when, under that subsection, it is to be treated as if it were a part of a polling booth were, for the purposes of section 135, doing so by permission of the presiding officer there present;

(b)

paragraph 35(a) were omitted and the following paragraph were substituted:

"(a) mark his or her vote on the ballot-paper in a manner that ensures the secrecy of the vote;";

(c)

paragraph 35(c) were omitted; and

(d)

the words "enter an unoccupied compartment of the booth with the voter, and" were omitted from subsection 36(1).

(4) Subsection 131(1) applies in relation to a hospital that is a polling place and in relation to a special hospital within the meaning of section 49 as if:

(a)

the reference in that subsection to voting day and to all days to which the voting is adjourned were a reference to the period commencing on the day of the issue of the writ for the referendum and ending at the expiration of voting day or, if the voting is adjourned, the expiration of the last day to which the voting is adjourned; and

(b)

the references in that subsection to a polling booth were references to the hospital or special hospital, as the case may be.

(5) Where an elector has voted under section 48 or 49 at a referendum, any postal ballot-paper received by the Divisional Returning Officer that is, or that purports to be, a postal ballot-paper of the elector shall not be admitted in the scrutiny in relation to the referendum.
(6) The DRO for a Division shall, not later than 4 p.m. on the day before voting day, display prominently in his or her office a notice specifying the hospitals in the Division that are polling places and indicating the periods during which votes will be taken under section 48 at each hospital.
(6A) The DRO for a Division shall, at least 7 days before the day, or the first day, on which votes are to be taken under section 49 at a hospital in the Division, display prominently in his or her office a notice specifying:

(a)

the hospitals in the Division at which votes are to be taken under section 49; and

(b)

the days on which, and the times at which, votes will be taken at each of those hospitals.

(6B) Where it is not practicable for votes to be taken under section 49 on a day, or at a time, specified in a notice under subsection (6A), the electoral visitor shall inform the Divisional Returning Officer accordingly.
(6C) On being so informed, the Divisional Returning Officer shall take such steps as he or she thinks fit to give public notice of another day on which, or another time at which, the votes will be taken.
(7) As far as is reasonably practicable, votes taken under section 48 or 49 shall be taken on the day or days and at the time or times specified in the relevant notice under subsection (6), (6A) or (6C), but any failure to take those votes in that manner does not invalidate the result of the referendum.

(1) In this section: