Electoral Act 1907

This section applies if the Electoral Commissioner becomes aware of an error in a registered how‑to‑vote card.

The Electoral Commissioner may give the accountable person for the registered how‑to‑vote card a notice (an error notice) that —

states the error (the identified error); and

if the Electoral Commissioner considers the identified error to be material and serious, states that —

the Electoral Commissioner considers the identified error to be material and serious; and

the accountable person for the how‑to‑vote card must take immediate steps to ensure that the how‑to‑vote card is no longer distributed or published unless and until the Electoral Commissioner gives the accountable person a notice under subsection (6);

states that the accountable person must, within the reasonable time stated in the notice —

give the Electoral Commissioner a replacement how‑to‑vote card with the identified error corrected on it and a statement explaining the amendments made to correct the identified error; or

make submissions to the Electoral Commissioner disputing the existence of the identified error;

states that the registration of the registered how‑to‑vote card may be cancelled unless the person, political party or group —

complies with paragraph (c)(i); or

makes submissions under paragraph (c)(ii) and satisfies the Electoral Commissioner that the identified error is not an error;

states that —

if the error notice states that the Electoral Commissioner considered the identified error was material and serious — the accountable person may commit a crime against section 191C(1) if the person fails to comply with a requirement under paragraph (b)(ii) stated in the error notice; or

the accountable person may commit an offence against section 191C(2) if the person fails to comply with a requirement under paragraph (c)(i) or (ii) stated in the error notice.

If the Electoral Commissioner receives a replacement how‑to‑vote card from the accountable person for a how‑to‑vote card in compliance with an error notice and considers the replacement how‑to‑vote card corrects the error identified in the error notice and is suitable to be registered, the Electoral Commissioner must —

register the replacement how‑to‑vote card; and

cancel the registration of the previous how‑to‑vote card; and

give the accountable person a written notice stating the decision and the effect of the decision.

The Electoral Commissioner may cancel the registration of a registered how‑to‑vote card in which an error has been identified in an error notice if —

the Electoral Commissioner receives a replacement how‑to‑vote card and considers that the replacement card does not correct the error or is not suitable to be registered; or

the accountable person that is given the error notice —

does not comply with subsection (2)(c)(i); or

does not make submissions under subsection (2)(c)(ii);

the Electoral Commissioner receives submissions under subsection (2)(c)(ii) and is satisfied, despite the submissions, that the identified error in the registered how‑to‑vote card is an error.

If the Electoral Commissioner cancels the registration of a registered how‑to‑vote card under subsection (4), the Electoral Commissioner must give the accountable person for the registered how‑to‑vote card a written notice stating —

the decision; and

the reasons for the decision.

If the Electoral Commissioner decides not to apply the provisions of subsection (4), the Electoral Commissioner must give the accountable person for the registered how-to-vote card a written notice stating the decision.