Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918

At the time and place fixed for the re‑count and in the presence of any scrutineers who attend and of a person appointed or engaged under the Public Service Act 1999, the DRO shall open every sealed parcel of ballot papers to be re‑counted and count the votes in the parcel.

A parcel containing ballot papers to be re‑counted shall be opened without destroying or rendering illegible any writing on the parcel and the contents of the parcel shall not be allowed to become mixed with ballot papers from any other parcel.

After the votes in a parcel have been counted, the DRO shall replace the ballot papers in their original cover, reseal and refasten the cover, place the resealed parcel in a new cover, and seal and fasten the new cover.

The DRO shall write on the new cover a statement of the fact and date of the re‑count of the votes in the cover and, along with such of the persons present who choose to add their signatures, shall sign the statement.

The DRO shall place any ballot papers reserved for the decision of the Australian Electoral Officer in a sealed and fastened parcel bearing the signatures of the DRO and the scrutineers who choose to add their signatures and a note of the number of ballot papers in the parcel, the name of the Division and the date.

The DRO shall place the parcel in a sealed and fastened outer cover addressed to the Australian Electoral Officer and, without delay, send the parcel to the Australian Electoral Officer by hand, registered post or courier service.

The Australian Electoral Officer shall open the parcel in the presence of a person appointed or engaged under the Public Service Act 1999 and of any scrutineer who attends and shall:

scrutinise the ballot papers; and

mark each ballot paper “admitted” or “rejected” according to his or her decision.

After scrutinising all the ballot papers, the Australian Electoral Officer shall restore them to their original cover, refasten and reseal the cover, and write on the cover:

the number of ballot papers contained in the cover; and

a statement that all ballot papers have been the subject of decisions by him or her.

The Australian Electoral Officer shall sign the cover, along with such other persons present when the ballot papers were scrutinised as choose to add their signatures.

The Australian Electoral Officer shall then enclose the parcel in a new cover, fasten and seal the cover and send the parcel to the DRO by hand, registered post or courier service.

The Australian Electoral Officer shall inform the DRO in writing of the numbers of ballot papers admitted or rejected by him or her, and the DRO shall complete the re‑count on the basis of the Australian Electoral Officer’s decision.

The receipt of a parcel of ballot papers by the DRO or the Australian Electoral Officer shall be acknowledged in writing.