Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act
2010
No. 41 of 2010
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section
Page
1
Purpose
1
2
Commencement
1
3
New section 23A inserted—Enrolment by the Commission
2
23A
Enrolment by the Commission
2
4
Consequential amendment to section 23—Claims for enrolment
and notice of change of address
4
5
Consequential amendment to section 29—Electoral rolls
4
6
Amendment of section 69A—Grouping of candidates for
Council elections
5
7
Amendment of section 69B—Group voting tickets
5
8
Section 82 substituted—Commission to make how-to-vote
cards available
6
82
Commission to make how-to-vote cards available
6
9
Amendment of section 83—Authorisation requirements for
letters and cards
6
10
Consequential amendment of section 87—Voting at elections
7
11
Amendment of section 87—Abolition of 3 months rule
7
12
Consequential amendment of section 90—Questions to be
asked of voter
7
13
Amendment of section 106—Postmarking and acceptance of
postal vote declarations
8
14
Amendment of section 108—Enrolment on election day
8
15
Consequential amendment of section 109—Provisions as to
voting by absent voters
9
16
Section 110D substituted—Who can access electronic voting?
9
110D Who can access electronic voting?
9
17
Amendment of sections 110E, 110G and 110H—Auditory
description of ballot-papers
10
18
Consequential amendment to section 110H—Voting
10
19
Repeal of amending Act
11
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ENDNOTES
12
i
Victoria
Electoral Amendment (Electoral
Participation) Act 2010†
No. 41 of 2010
[Assented to 3 August 2010]
The Parliament of Victoria enacts:
1 Purpose
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.
2 Commencement
(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into
operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
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Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
No. 41 of 2010
s. 3
(2) If a provision of this Act does not come into
operation before 1 July 2011, it comes into
operation on that day.
3 New section 23A inserted—Enrolment by the
Commission
See:
Act No.
23/2002.
Reprint No. 2
as at
31 October
2006
and
amending
Act Nos
97/2005,
69/2009 and
13/2010.
LawToday:
www.
legislation.
vic.gov.au
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;
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Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
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s. 3
(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
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Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
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s. 4
(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.".
4 Consequential 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.".
5 Consequential 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".
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Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
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s. 6
6 Amendment 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.".
7 Amendment 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 ballotpaper; 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;
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Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
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s. 8
(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".
8 Section 82 substituted—Commission to make howto-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.".
9 Amendment 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
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Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
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s. 10
(ii) does not contain a representation or
purported representation of a ballotpaper for use in an election; or".
(2) In section 83(4) of the Electoral Act 2002 after
"(3)(a)" insert "or (3)(aa)".
10 Consequential 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),".
11 Amendment 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.
12 Consequential 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.".
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Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
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s. 13
13 Amendment 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".
14 Amendment 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
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Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
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s. 15
(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.".
15 Consequential 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.".
16 Section 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).".
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Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
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s. 17
17 Amendment 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.".
18 Consequential 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".
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Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
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s. 19
19 Repeal 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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Electoral Amendment (Electoral Participation) Act 2010
No. 41 of 2010
Endnotes
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."
12