Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918

A person may apply to the Electoral Commissioner for provisional enrolment for a Subdivision if, at the time of making the application:

either:

a public announcement has been made of the proposed date for polling for an election for the Subdivision; or

a writ for an election for the Subdivision has been issued; and

the person has been notified by the Immigration Department that the person will become an Australian citizen under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 between:

the date of the writ; and

the polling day for the election; and

the person is not enrolled; and

the person is not qualified for enrolment, but would be so qualified if he or she were an Australian citizen.

A person who is provisionally enrolled under this section is not immediately added to a Roll but can cast a postal vote, a pre‑poll declaration vote, an absent vote or a provisional vote. However, the vote is excluded from further scrutiny if the person does not provide evidence of citizenship by the first Friday following the polling day (see paragraph 6 of Schedule 3).

An application must:

be in the approved form; and

be signed by the person (but see subsection (3)); and

be made between the following times:

the earlier of the public announcement of the proposed date for polling for the election and the date of the writ;

8 pm on the day of the close of the Rolls for the election; and

in accordance with subsection (4), be supported by evidence of the Immigration Department’s notification.

A person may fill out and sign an application under this section, on behalf of another person (the applicant), in accordance with the directions of the applicant if:

the applicant wishes to make the application; and

a registered medical practitioner has certified, in writing, that the applicant is so physically incapacitated that the applicant cannot sign the application.

For the purposes of paragraph (2)(d), an application is supported by evidence of the Immigration Department’s notification if:

all of the following apply:

the original notification is shown to an officer;

the officer attests that he or she has sighted the notification;

the officer attests that he or she is satisfied that the notification relates to the person making the application; or

all of the following apply:

the original or a copy of the notification is shown to an elector in a prescribed class of electors;

the elector attests that he or she has sighted the notification;

the elector attests that he or she is satisfied that the notification relates to the person making the application.

If a person makes an application in accordance with this section, then:

the person is provisionally enrolled under this section for the Subdivision to which the application relates; and

the Electoral Commissioner must keep a record of the details of the application.

If, by the first Friday following the polling day for the election, the person provides an officer with evidence that the person has become an Australian citizen, then:

the provisional enrolment ceases; and

the application is taken to be a claim for enrolment for the Subdivision to which the application relates; and

sections 102, 103 and 104 apply to the application as if it were a claim made under section 101.

Otherwise, the Electoral Commissioner must notify the person, in writing, that the person’s provisional enrolment has ceased.