Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

COMMONWEALTH ELECTORAL ACT 1918 - SECT 188

Material to be sent to postal vote applicant

  (1)   If the Electoral Commissioner or an Assistant Returning Officer receives an application for a postal vote that is in accordance with subsection   184(1), he or she must (unless the application fails to meet the deadline as mentioned in subsection   184(5)) send, or arrange for the sending, to the applicant, as provided under subsection   (2) of this section:

  (a)   a postal vote certificate printed on an envelope; and

  (b)   one postal ballot paper for a Senate election or one postal ballot paper for a House of Representatives election, or both, as the case requires; and

  (c)   if the envelope on which the postal vote certificate is printed is not itself addressed to:

  (i)   if the application is provided to an Assistant Returning Officer outside Australia--the Assistant Returning Officer or to the DRO for the Division for which the applicant is enrolled; or

  (ii)   otherwise--the DRO for the Division for which the applicant is enrolled;

    an envelope addressed to that Assistant Returning officer or DRO.

Dealing with certificates and ballot papers before sending

  (1A)   Before a postal vote certificate and postal ballot paper are sent to an applicant under subsection   (1):

  (a)   the date of issue of the certificate and ballot paper must be recorded; and

  (b)   the certificate must be numbered with the same number allocated to the application under subsection   184(7); and

  (c)   the top of the front of the ballot paper must be marked with the initials of the officer who issued the ballot paper, or caused it to be issued.

How material to be sent

  (2)   If the Electoral Commissioner or Assistant Returning Officer receives the application for a postal vote at or before 6 pm on the Wednesday that is 3 days before polling day in the election, the material required by subsection   (1) must be sent to the applicant by a means that the Electoral Commissioner or Assistant Returning Officer considers to be the most reasonable and practicable in the circumstances.

Note:   If the application is received after 6 pm on the Wednesday that is 3 days before polling day in the election, it fails to meet the deadline (see subsection   184(5)), and therefore no material is required by subsection   (1) to be sent to the applicant.