Untitled document
Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
No. 41 of 2010
table of provisions
Section Page
1Purpose
2Commencement
3New section 23A inserted—Enrolment by the Commission
23AEnrolment by the Commission
4Consequential amendment to section 23—Claims for enrolment and notice of change of address
5Consequential amendment to section 29—Electoral rolls
6Amendment of section 69A—Grouping of candidates for Council elections
7Amendment of section 69B—Group voting tickets
8Section 82 substituted—Commission to make how-to-vote cards available
82Commission to make how-to-vote cards available
9Amendment of section 83—Authorisation requirements for letters and cards
10Consequential amendment of section 87—Voting at elections
11Amendment of section 87—Abolition of 3 months rule
12Consequential amendment of section 90—Questions to be asked of voter
13Amendment of section 106—Postmarking and acceptance of postal vote declarations
14Amendment of section 108—Enrolment on election day
15Consequential amendment of section 109—Provisions as to voting by absent voters
16Section 110D substituted—Who can access electronic voting?
110DWho can access electronic voting?
17Amendment of sections 110E, 110G and 110H—Auditory description of ballot-papers
18Consequential amendment to section 110H—Voting
19Repeal of amending Act
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Endnotes
Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
No. 41 of 2010
[Assented to 3 August 2010]
The Parliament of Victoria enacts:
1Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to amend the Electoral Act 2002 to provide for—
(a)increased electoral participation; and
(b)improved operation of the Act.
2Commencement
(1)Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
(2)If a provision of this Act does not come into operation before 1 July 2011, it comes into operation on that day.
3New section 23A inserted—Enrolment by the Commission
After section 23 of the Electoral Act 2002 insert—
"23A Enrolment by the Commission
(1)This section applies if a person who would be entitled to enrol on the register of electors under section 22(5) has attained 18 years of age but has not made a claim for provisional enrolment under section 23(2).
(2)If a person to whom this section applies has not made a claim for enrolment within 21 days of becoming entitled to do so, the Commission may, on its own initiative after the expiry of that period, by notice in writing advise the person that—
(a)the Commission considers that, having regard to information obtained by the Commission under section 26(4), the person is entitled to be enrolled on the register of electors;
(b)the Commission proposes to enrol the person on the register of electors in respect of the person's principal place of residence as specified in the notice;
(c)the Commission will enrol the person on the register of electors unless, within the period specified in the notice (being not less than 14 days after the date of the notice), the person advises the Commission of the reason why the person is not entitled to be enrolled on the register of electors;
(d)if the person considers that any details of the proposed enrolment are incorrect, the person must within the period specified in the notice advise the Commission.
(3)If the Commission does not receive any advice under subsection (2)(c) or (2)(d) at the expiry of the period specified in the notice under subsection (2), the Commission must—
(a)register the person on the register of electors; and
(b)advise the person in writing that the person has been registered on the register of electors.
(4)If the Commission receives advice under subsection (2)(c) before the expiry of the period specified in the notice under subsection (2), the Commission must—
(a)consider whether the reason given as to why the person is not entitled to be enrolled is valid;
(b)if the Commission considers that the reason given as to why the person is not entitled to be enrolled is valid, advise the person in writing that the person will not be registered on the register of electors;
(c)if the Commission considers that the reason given as to why the person is not entitled to be enrolled is not valid—
(i)register the person on the register of electors; and
(ii)advise the person in writing that the person has been registered on the register of electors.
(5)If the Commission receives advice under subsection (2)(d) before the expiry of the period specified in the notice under subsection (2), the Commission, after making any corrections that the Commission considers appropriate, must—
(a)register the person on the register of electors; and
(b)advise the person in writing that the person has been registered on the register of electors.".
4Consequential amendment to section 23—Claims for enrolment and notice of change of address
After section 23(7) of the Electoral Act 2002 insert—
"(8)If the Commission sends a person a notice in writing under section 23A(2), proceedings must not be instituted against the person for any offence against subsection (1) which occurred before the Commission sent that notice.".
5Consequential amendment to section 29—Electoral rolls
After section 29(3)(a) of the Electoral Act 2002 insert—
"(aa)the names of any electors registered on the register of electors under section 23A by the Commission after the close of the roll; or".
6Amendment of section 69A—Grouping of candidates for Council elections
After section 69A(7) of the Electoral Act 2002 insert—
"(8)A request made under subsection (1), (2) or (3) may, at any time before noon on the day before final nomination day, be amended, withdrawn or replaced by a written notice to the Commission.".
7Amendment of section 69B—Group voting tickets
(1)In sections 69B(1), 69B(2), 69B(3) and 69B(4) of the Electoral Act 2002, for "may" substitute "must".
(2)At the foot of section 69B(7) of the Electoral Act 2002 insert—
"Penalty:10 penalty units.".
(3)After section 69B(7) of the Electoral Act 2002 insert—
"(7A)For the purposes of subsection (7)—
(a)a statement under subsection (1) must be lodged by—
(i)the candidate whose name first appears in the group on the ballot-paper; or
(ii)if a person has been authorised by all the members of the group by written instrument given to the Commission with the nomination or nominations of members of the group to sign the statement, the authorised person;
(b)a statement under subsection (2) must be lodged by the registered officer of the registered political party making the request;
(c)a statement under subsection (3) must be lodged by the registered officers of the registered political parties making the joint request.".
(4)In section 69B(8) of the Electoral Act 2002, omit ", withdrawn".
8Section 82 substituted—Commission to make how-to-vote cards available
For section 82 of the Electoral Act 2002 substitute—
"82 Commission to make how-to-vote cards available
As soon as practicable after registering a how-to-vote card under section 79 or 80, the Commission must—
(a)make available a copy of that card for inspection at the office of the Commission; and
(b)publish a copy of that card on an Internet website maintained by the Commission.".
9Amendment of section 83—Authorisation requirements for letters and cards
(1)After section 83(3)(a) of the Electoral Act 2002 insert—
"(aa)a letter or card which—
(i)bears the name and address of the sender; and
(ii)does not contain a representation or purported representation of a ballot-paper for use in an election; or".
(2)In section 83(4) of the Electoral Act 2002 after "(3)(a)" insert "or (3)(aa)".
10Consequential amendment of section 87—Voting at elections
In section 87(1)(b) of the Electoral Act 2002, before "is" insert "subject to section 108(1),".
11Amendment of section 87—Abolition of 3 months rule
In section 87(1) of the Electoral Act 2002—
(a)in paragraph (b) for "Act; and" substitute "Act.";
(b)paragraph (c) is repealed.
12Consequential amendment of section 90—Questions to be asked of voter
For sections 90(3) and 90(4) of the Electoral Act 2002 substitute—
"(4)The election official must reject a person's claim to vote if the person—
(a)refuses to answer fully the questions asked; or
(b)answers the question specified in subsection (1)(c) in the affirmative.".
13Amendment of section 106—Postmarking and acceptance of postal vote declarations
After section 106(3)(a) of the Electoral Act 2002 insert—
"(aa)the postmark on the envelope is dated with the date of the Sunday immediately after election day, the declaration is witnessed on or before election day; or".
14Amendment of section 108—Enrolment on election day
(1)For the heading to section 108 of the Electoral Act 2002 substitute—
"Provisional voting".
(2)For section 108(1) of the Electoral Act 2002 substitute—
"(1)This section applies to a person who—
(a)claims to be entitled to vote at an election and the name of that person is not on, or cannot be found on, the electoral roll;
(b)completes the prescribed enrolment application and declaration form;
(c)signs the prescribed enrolment application and declaration form in the presence of an election official;
(d)provides to the satisfaction of the election official—
(i)a form of identification prescribed for the purposes of this section; or
(ii)the name of a service provider from the list of service providers prescribed for the purposes of this section to enable identification of the person.".
15Consequential amendment of section 109—Provisions as to voting by absent voters
(1)Section 109(2)(c) of the Electoral Act 2002 is repealed.
(2)In section 109(3) of the Electoral Act 2002, omit "or (2)(c)".
(3)For section 109(4) of the Electoral Act 2002 substitute—
"(4)The election official must reject a person's claim to vote if the person—
(a)refuses to answer fully the questions asked; or
(b)if asked, answers the question specified in subsection (2)(e) in the affirmative.".
16Section 110D substituted—Who can access electronic voting?
For section 110D of the Electoral Act 2002 substitute—
"110D Who can access electronic voting?
Electronic voting can be accessed at an electronic voting centre by an elector who otherwise cannot vote without assistance because of—
(a)a visual impairment; or
(b)a motor impairment; or
(c)insufficient literacy skills (whether in the English language or in their primary spoken language).".
17Amendment of sections 110E, 110G and 110H—Auditory description of ballot-papers
(1)After section 110E(2)(a) of the Electoral Act 2002 insert—
"(aa)the computer program will enable a visual display or auditory description (including the names and order of the candidates and other details about the candidates as they appear on the ballot-paper) of the ballot-paper and voting instructions to be provided to an elector so that the elector may vote using a touch screen or a keypad;".
(2)In section 110E(2)(b) of the Electoral Act 2002 for "show" substitute "select".
(3)In section 110G(2) of the Electoral Act 2002 for "display" substitute "visual display or auditory description".
(4)In section 110H(2) of the Electoral Act 2002 after "given" insert "access to".
(5)For section 110H(3) of the Electoral Act 2002 substitute—
"(3)If an elector given access to an electronic ballot-paper has complied with the voting instructions provided and the vote is processed by the computer program, the elector is to be taken for the purposes of sections 93 and 93A to have marked the elector's vote on the ballot-paper in accordance with those sections.".
18Consequential amendment to section 110H—Voting
In section 110H(1) of the Electoral Act 2002 for "the person has a visual impairment that" substitute "any of the reasons specified in section 110D".
19Repeal of amending Act
This Act is repealed on 1 July 2012.
Note
The repeal of this Act does not affect the continuing operation of the amendments made by it (see section 15(1) of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).
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Endnotes
Minister's second reading speech—
Legislative Assembly: 10 June 2010
Legislative Council: 24 June 2010
The long title for the Bill for this Act was "A Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act 2002 to increase electoral participation and for other purposes."
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