The Act deploys a small number of core legal and administrative concepts. Each is expressed in terms that govern who acts, when they act and what records or forms are used.

• Referendum as an election-analog. The central conceptual device is treating a referendum as if it were an election for the purposes of electoral procedure. Section 5 expressly imports the Electoral Act 2017 and any regulations or rules made under it so far as they are applicable, and supplies a set of cross-reading rules (s 5(1)). That concept means the Act leverages the existing election machinery (rolls, polling places, ballot-boxes, ballot-paper forms, electoral papers) rather than creating parallel processes.
• Writ-based trigger. The referral mechanism is writ-centred: the Governor may issue a writ for a referendum and attach the Bill or a statement of it (ss 6-8; Second Schedule Form A). The writ fixes the timetable: polling day (a Saturday within 40 days) and return day (s 7).
• Electoral officer duties and reporting. The Electoral Commissioner is recipient of the writ and has immediate duties: timestamp, public notice (Gazette and newspapers), distribute copies of Bill/statement to returning officers and exhibit at Local Courts (s 9). Returning officers and their deputies conduct polling, scrutiny and prepare sealed parcels and certified statements for the Electoral Commissioner to collate (ss 19, 22-25).
• Ballot design and voter direction. Paper ballot format is prescribed in the Second Schedule. Voting is by marking “YES” or “NO” by placing a tick in the square opposite the word (s 14; Second Schedule Forms B, D, E). For postal ballots special witness and envelope procedures are set out in Form D (Second Schedule).
• Informality rules and returning officer discretion. Informality grounds are listed, and the returning officer’s opinion controls whether certain marks identify the voter and render a ballot informal (s 20). A saving provision allows acceptance where intention is clear and treats crosses and a “1” like a tick (s 21).
• Simultaneity with elections. Where a referendum is held on the same day as a legislative election the Act contains detailed cross-references and logistical rules: postal vote applications, declarations, supply of rolls, colour differentiation of ballot papers, envelope rules and a specific link to failure-to-vote penalties under the Electoral Act 2017 (s 16).
• Recount, return and conclusive evidence. The Electoral Commissioner may direct recounts and must indorse the writ with district and State totals, publish the statement in the Gazette and that statement is, subject to the Act, conclusive evidence of the result (ss 26-27). The Act balances finality (Gazette statement) with an explicit parliamentary route to the Supreme Court to test validity (s 28).
• Judicial oversight via Court of Disputed Returns powers. The Supreme Court is empowered to hear references using the powers given to the Court of Disputed Returns by the Electoral Act 2017 (s 30). Procedure and representation are regulated (ss 31-33).
• Statutory offences and penalties. A bundle of offences addresses inducement, bribery, undue influence, misleading ballot representations and disorder at public meetings (ss 37-42). These are declared as being in addition to corresponding provisions of the Electoral Act 2017 (s 36). The criminal consequences are expressed in maximum penalties and imprisonment caps (ss 37-40, 41-42).

These concepts together create a hybrid framework: referendums are handled largely within the election system, but with referendum-specific writing, ballot-forms, timing rules, counting and an explicit set of offences calibrated to referendum campaigning and conduct.

The Act assigns obligations and constraints across a small set of actors. Statements below follow the statutory allocation of tasks and liabilities.

• The Governor. The Governor may issue a writ for the referendum, attach the Bill or a statement, appoint polling and return days, and make regulations under this Part (ss 6-8, 35). The Governor therefore decides whether and when a writ is issued and may direct recounts indirectly via direction to the Electoral Commissioner (s 26).
• The Electoral Commissioner. The writ is directed to the Electoral Commissioner (s 6). On receipt the Commissioner must indorse the writ with the receipt date, publish notices in the Gazette and press, exhibit copies at each Local Court and forward copies to returning officers (s 9). The Commissioner receives district statements and must indorse and return the writ to the Governor with the vote totals, publish the statement in the Gazette and may direct recounts before indorsing the writ (ss 25-27; s 26).
• Returning officers and deputies. They operate the polling places established under election law (s 12), conduct scrutiny and counting at close of poll (s 19), make up sealed parcels of used/unused ballot-papers and papers, verify statements and transmit them to the returning officer and Electoral Commissioner (ss 22-25). Returning officers control acceptance and rejection rules for ballot-papers at scrutiny, subject to s 21 saving of informality.
• Electors. Only those entitled to vote at an election may vote at a referendum (s 10). Each elector votes once (s 13) and must mark YES or NO in the way directed (s 14). Electors are criminally liable for receipt of a bribe if they ask for or accept inducements (s 39).
• Campaigners, individuals and organisations. Natural and legal persons who undertake campaigning activities are constrained by offences: they may not supply meat, drink, entertainment or horse/carriage hire to influence votes after the writ is issued (s 37); may not bribe electors or offer benefits (s 38); must avoid threats or violence to influence votes (s 40); must not publish misleading ballot images or false statements intended to mislead electors (s 41); and must ensure lawful public meetings are free from disorder (s 42).
• The Parliament and Supreme Court. Either House may, within the statutory time limit after Gazette publication, refer questions of the validity of the referendum to the Supreme Court which will sit with Court of Disputed Returns powers under the Electoral Act 2017 (ss 28-30). The Prothonotary forwards the Court’s determination to the Clerk of the relevant House (s 33).
• Administrative intermediaries. Poll clerks, authorised witnesses for postal voting (Second Schedule Form D), and any person authorised under the Electoral Act 2017 will be implicated by the Act’s operational rules. The Act gives returning officers and the Electoral Commissioner discretion to rely on authenticated communications from remote locations, for example Lord Howe Island via cable or wireless (s 25(2)).

Who pays and bears administrative burden is implied by the allocation of duties. The Electoral Commissioner must undertake a bundle of publication, exhibition and collation tasks (s 9; ss 25-27) and returning officers and deputies must carry out additional post-poll handling and certification (ss 22-24). The text therefore imposes administrative costs on electoral authorities; the Act itself does not specify funding sources.

The Act distributes a small number of express duties, discretionary powers and protections across the Governor, Electoral Commissioner, returning officers and electors.

Duties and powers of the Governor

• May issue the writ for the referendum, direct it to the Electoral Commissioner and attach the Bill or a statement (ss 6-8).
• May make regulations to carry the Part into effect, including altering ballot forms and adjusting times where needed (s 35).

Duties and powers of the Electoral Commissioner

• Must indorse the writ with the date of receipt and promptly publish notice of the writ and the days appointed for polling and return in the Gazette and at least two newspapers, exhibit the Bill or statement at Local Courts and forward copies to returning officers (s 9).
• May direct recounts before indorsing the writ and shall do so if directed by the Governor (s 26).
• Must indorse and sign a statement on the writ setting out per-electorate and statewide totals of YES, NO and informal ballots, return the writ to the Governor and publish the statement in the Gazette, which is, subject to this Act, conclusive evidence of the result (s 27).

Duties and powers of returning officers and deputies

• Conduct polling at polling places established under election law (s 12), supervise scrutiny immediately after close of poll, open ballot-boxes and count in the presence of poll clerks only (s 19).
• Make up sealed parcels of used and unused ballot-papers, certified rolls and papers, prepare statements showing totals of YES, NO and informal ballots, verify accounts, and transmit parcels and statements to the returning officer and Electoral Commissioner (ss 22-25).
• On recount directed by the Electoral Commissioner, exercise the same powers as at the scrutiny and may reverse prior decisions on admission or rejection of ballots (s 26(2)).

Rights and obligations of electors

• Only electors who would be entitled to vote at an election may vote (s 10).
• Each elector has the right to cast a single referendum vote (s 13) and the right to have that vote counted in accordance with the Act’s counting and scrutiny procedures (ss 19, 25).
• Electors are obliged to mark their ballot in the specified manner (s 14) and to avoid accepting bribes (s 39). When the referendum is held on the same day as an election, certain electoral declarations or certificates used to enable voting at the election operate equally for the referendum (s 16(a)-(c)).

Protections and procedural safeguards

• Ballot-papers are not to be rejected as informal except for reasons specified in this Act or the regulations made under it (s 5(2)(a)).
• Saving of informality permits the returning officer to accept ballots with crosses or a “1” as if they were ticks and allows acceptance of other markings where the voter’s intention is clearly indicated (s 21).
• Judicial review is available: either House may refer questions of validity to the Supreme Court within 15 sitting days after Gazette publication (s 28). The Supreme Court has Court of Disputed Returns powers to decide those matters (s 30).

The text allocates both positive duties (publication, counting, sealing and certification) and negative constraints (offences restricting certain campaign behaviour). Many operational specifics (signature/initial requirements for ballots, failure-to-vote penalties, Court of Disputed Returns procedures) are referenced to the Electoral Act 2017, making compliance contingent on that Act’s provisions (s 5(1); s 36).

The Act sets explicit criminal penalties for a set of referendum-specific offences and positions those offences as additional to the Electoral Act 2017. Enforcement is statutory criminal enforcement; the Act specifies maxima for penalties and imprisonment but does not itself set out prosecutorial agency or procedural mechanisms beyond the Court referral mechanism for disputed returns.

Offences and maximum penalties

• Supply of hospitality or carriage-hire to influence votes. Any person who, after the issue of a writ and before votes are taken, supplies meat, drink, entertainment, or horse or carriage hire to an elector with a view to influencing that elector’s vote is guilty of an offence. Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units or imprisonment for 3 years, or both (s 37).
• Bribery by third parties. Any person who gives, confers, procures, promises or offers money, property or a benefit to influence an elector’s vote, to induce the elector not to vote, or to influence support or opposition, is guilty of an offence. Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units or imprisonment for 3 years, or both (s 38).
• Receipt of bribe by elector. Any elector who asks for, receives or attempts to receive money, property, or benefit in bargain for voting or refraining from voting is guilty of an offence. Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units or imprisonment for 3 years, or both (s 39).
• Undue influence. Any person who threatens or uses violence, injury, punishment, damage, loss or disadvantage to influence a voter’s vote or refraining from voting, or uses such conduct because of a vote or non-vote, is guilty of an offence. Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units or imprisonment for 3 years, or both (s 40).
• Misleading publications concerning ballot-papers. Printing, publishing or distributing advertisements or documents that represent a ballot-paper or apparently represent a ballot-paper and include directions likely to mislead or improperly interfere with an elector, or containing untrue or incorrect statements intended to mislead electors, is an offence. Penalty not exceeding 2 penalty units (s 41(1)).
• Misconduct at public meetings. Disorderly behaviour at lawful public meetings held in relation to a referendum that prevents the transaction of business carries a penalty not exceeding 0.1 penalty unit (s 42(1)-(2)).

Enforcement context and legal remedies

• The Act states these offences are in addition to offences under the Electoral Act 2017 that are applicable to a referendum (s 36). That means relevant enforcement may proceed under either or both statutes depending on the conduct and charging decisions.
• The Act does not itself identify the enforcement agency that brings prosecutions for these offences. It establishes the criminal descriptions and maximum penalties.
• For outcome disputes (validity, returns), either House may resolve to refer questions to the Supreme Court within 15 sitting days after Gazette publication of the Commissioner’s statement (s 28). The Supreme Court sits with the Court of Disputed Returns powers under the Electoral Act 2017 and can make determinations about validity and returns (s 30). The Prothonotary forwards the Court’s determination to the Clerk of the relevant House (s 33).

Timing and finality considerations relevant to enforcement

• The Electoral Commissioner’s Gazette publication is “conclusive evidence of the result of the referendum” subject to the Act (s 27(2)). That confers a default finality to the declared result, but the parliamentary referral mechanism provides a narrow window for judicial attack (s 28).
• Recounts may be directed by the Electoral Commissioner prior to the Commissioner indorsing the writ, and must be directed if instructed by the Governor (s 26). That provides an administrative mechanism to correct counting issues before final endorsement and Gazette publication.

Practitioners should note the different scales of penalties: the most serious offences carry up to 100 penalty units and imprisonment up to three years, and the misleading publication and meeting misconduct offences carry comparatively modest pecuniary penalties (ss 37-42).

The Act is deliberately linked to and dependent on the Electoral Act 2017 and to a small number of other statutory instruments cited in the text. Its operative effect derives in part from the cross-references it contains.

Primary cross-reference: Electoral Act 2017

• Section 5 expressly makes the provisions of the Electoral Act 2017 and any regulations or rules made under that Act apply to a referendum as if the referendum were an election, “subject to this Part”, and provides a set of textual substitutions to read references to writ, election day, nomination day, casting of votes, electoral matter and ballot papers as references to the corresponding referendum concepts (s 5(1)(a)-(h)). This incorporation means many procedural rules, offences, signature/initial requirements, roll rules, postal voting logistics and administrative powers applicable to elections will operate for referendums by statutory incorporation.
• Section 5(2)(a) limits ballot rejection: a ballot-paper is not to be rejected as informal except for a reason specified in this Act or the regulations made under this Act, which potentially modifies or narrows some grounds for informality compared with the Electoral Act 2017.
• The Act explicitly treats certain Electoral Act 2017 provisions as applying when a referendum is simultaneous with an election. For example, s 16(i) takes the Electoral Act 2017 s 207 (Offence of failing to vote) to be a reference to the election and the referendum and disapplies the sending of more than one penalty notice under s 259 of that Act. Other items in s 16 import postal application equivalence, declaration equivalence and use of rolls and polling places (s 16(a)-(h)).

Court of Disputed Returns linkage

• The Supreme Court is given jurisdiction to hear references by either House and “shall have the powers conferred by the Electoral Act 2017 on the Court of Disputed Returns, so far as they are applicable” (s 30). The Act therefore creates an express procedural overlap: election dispute procedures and remedies under the Electoral Act 2017 will be the mechanism to determine referendum validity disputes.

Specific statutory interactions

• The Constitution (Fixed Term Parliaments) Special Provisions Act 1991 is directly referenced: section 7(3) requires that the day appointed for a specific Bill (the Constitution (Fixed Term Parliaments) Amendment Bill 1991) be no later than the day named for the taking of the poll in the next general election within the meaning of that Special Provisions Act (s 7(3)). That is a narrow, text-specific interaction.
• The Act’s offences are declared to be “in addition to” provisions of the Electoral Act 2017 that apply to a referendum (s 36), which means conduct may be charged under either regime where there is overlap.

Practical consequences of these interactions

• Compliance with the referendum rules requires consulting both this Act and the Electoral Act 2017. For example s 20 defines ballot-paper informality by reference to signature/initialling requirements in the Electoral Act 2017; the saving-of-informality in s 21 then allows returning officers to treat crosses or “1” as ticks.
• The timing and publication rules under this Act trigger the 15-sitting-day referral window of s 28; that window is measured by the definition in s 28(2) which explicitly counts sitting days whether or not they occur during the same parliamentary session. That technical detail may interact with parliamentary scheduling rules in other statutes or Standing Orders.
• The interaction with the Electoral Act 2017’s penalty and enforcement architecture can affect double-counting or duplication of notices, as s 16(i) prevents multiple penalty notices for failure to vote in the case of simultaneous election and referendum.

Overall, the Act is an overlay on the Electoral Act 2017: it reuses broadly the election infrastructure and court procedures but adds referendum-specific forms, timing, offences and reporting mechanics that must be read together with the Electoral Act 2017 to determine full legal effect.

The Act text as supplied includes marginal amendment and repeal notes. These notes record a sequence of amendments, substitutions and repeals affecting particular sections and schedules. The following is a compilation of the recorded amendments and repeals appearing in the text.

Early repeals

• Many provisions in Parts 2, 4 and 5 and the First, Third Schedules and Appendix were repealed by 1933 No 1 and 1933 No 5 instruments. For example ss 43-77 and the First and Third Schedules are recorded as repealed by 1933 No 5 (First Sch) or 1933 No 1 (sec 3(d)).

1978 and 1981 amendments

• Several sections carry marginal notes: Am 1978 No 45, Sch 1. These amendments affect s 2, s 3, pt 3 div 1 heading, s 4, s 5 and multiple other provisions. For example s 5 shows Am 1933 No 1, sec 3(b); 1978 No 45, Sch 1 (5) and was “Subst 2017 No 66, Sch 8.5 [2]” later (see below).
• s 14: Am 1978 No 45, Sch 1 (6); 1981 No 97, Sch 1 (1).
• s 15: Am 1978 No 45, Sch 1 (7); s 15(5) later appears aligned to a 1981 substitution note; Second Schedule Forms B, D, E amended 1978 and 1981 (Second Sch: Am 1978 No 45, Sch 1 (14); 1981 No 97, Sch 1 (5)).

1990s and later amendments

• ss 37-40: Am 1990 No 111, Sch 2. These are the provisions criminalising supply of meat etc, bribery, receipt of bribe, undue influence (s 37-40).
• s 41: Am 1993 No 47, Sch 1. This inserted the misleading advertisement provision and associated penalty.
• s 42: Am 1993 No 47, Sch 1. This provided the misconduct at public meeting provision and penalty.
• s 9: Am 1999 No 31, Sch 4.15; 2007 No 94, Sch 1.16. These notes record later amendments to the Electoral Commissioner’s duties.
• s 26: Am 1978 No 45, Sch 1 (5). s 30: Am 1978 No 45, Sch 1 (11); 2006 No 58, Sch 2.4; 2017 No 66, Sch 8.5 [3]. These marginal notes show continued adjustments to Court powers and procedural interfaces.

2017 substantive substitutions

• Section 5 is recorded as “Subst 2017 No 66, Sch 8.5 [2]”, reflecting an 2017 substitution aligning this Act with the Electoral Act 2017 scheme.
• Section 16 carries both 1978 and 2017 notes: Subst 1978 No 45, Sch 1 (8). Am 1981 No 97, Sch 1 (2); 2017 No 66, Sch 8.5 [3] [4]. This shows later harmonisation where 2017 amendments reworked cross-references.

Other notes

• s 21: Subst 1981 No 97, Sch 1 (4). This is a substitution of the saving-of-informality provision.
• s 35: Am 1978 No 45, Sch 1 (12); 1987 No 48, Sch 32. Regulatory powers were adjusted over time.

Repeals recorded in the text

• Sections and schedules listed as repealed include s 2 (Rep 1999 No 31, Sch 5.19), s 3 (Rep 1933 No 1, sec 3(a)), many provisions in Parts 4 and 5 and Schedules (Rep 1933 No 5, First Sch) and other numbered repeals noted in the margins.

What the marginal notes show

• The marginal notes record iterative modernisation: references to the Electoral Act 2017 appear in 2017 substitution notes, older substantive provisions were repealed in the early 1930s, and later targeted amendments in 1990-1999 introduced or updated offences and administrative details. The Second Schedule ballot-forms were adjusted by regulation-making powers and by amendments recorded in 1978 and 1981.

Limitations on amendment history here

• The text carries only the amendment and repeal marginal references that are printed beside sections in the version supplied. It does not include legislative history outside those marginal notes, nor explanatory memoranda or reasons for those amendments. The marginal notes identify the amending instrument by year and schedule or section number where present in the supplied text.

The Act text itself does not name or reproduce any decisions or case law. It sets up a statutory route for adjudication of referendum challenges but does not record case outcomes. Two relevant procedural features in the Act point to litigation practice, should disputes arise:

• Parliamentary referral to the Supreme Court. Either House may, within 15 sitting days after the Gazette publication of the Commissioner’s statement, by resolution refer questions about the validity of the referendum or any return to the Supreme Court; the Court then has jurisdiction to hear and determine the question (s 28). Sitting days are counted whether or not they occur during the same session (s 28(2)).
• Powers of the Court. The Supreme Court is to have the powers conferred by the Electoral Act 2017 on the Court of Disputed Returns, to the extent applicable, and to sit in open court in relation to such references (s 30). The Act also provides for representation (the Electoral Commissioner is entitled to be heard, the Court may allow others to be represented) and for procedure by Rules of Court (ss 31-32). The Prothonotary must forward the Court’s determination to the Clerk of the relevant House (s 33).

Because the supplied Act text contains no judicial decisions, a practitioner requiring litigation history will need to consult case law databases and Court of Disputed Returns decisions under the Electoral Act 2017 and decisions where Parliament has referred referendum questions under this Act. The Act provides the procedural mechanism for such litigation but does not itself record precedents.

The Act contains several drafting features and operational interactions that create practical traps for administrators, campaign groups and practitioners. The points below are grounded in the statutory text and indicate where special attention is warranted.

1. Informality and the returning officer’s opinion. A ballot-paper is informal if it lacks the signature or initials or mark required by the Electoral Act 2017 (s 20(1)(a)) or bears a mark that, in the returning officer’s opinion, will enable identification of the voter (s 20(1)(b)). The returning officer’s subjective opinion therefore controls a key ground of informality. Conversely s 21 allows returning officers to accept certain non-standard marks (cross or “1”) as if they were ticks and to accept a ballot with other unauthorised marks if intention is clearly indicated. Practitioners must therefore consider the Electoral Act 2017 signature/initialling rules in parallel to this Act (s 20(1)(a); s 21).

2. Combined ballots and total loss risk. Where two or more referendums are held on the same day, Form E permits multiple forms on one piece of paper, but the presence of any mark or writing by which the voter can be identified renders informal all the forms on that piece of paper (s 15(5)). A single identifying mark can therefore void multiple referendum votes taken on the same physical sheet.

3. Postal voting witness requirement. Form D requires the voter to exhibit the blank ballot-paper to the authorised witness before marking. Failure to follow that procedure may make the ballot informal under the signature/initialling and other formalities (Second Schedule Form D; s 15(1)). Practitioners should instruct postal voters and authorised witnesses carefully.

4. Tight timetable and Saturday requirement. The writ must appoint a polling day that is a Saturday and not later than forty days from issue (s 7(2)). This fixed and fairly short window creates logistical pressure for the Electoral Commissioner and returning officers to complete notices, exhibition, distribution, and postal vote processing.

5. Recounts limited to pre-indorsement period. The Electoral Commissioner may only direct recounts prior to indorsing the writ (s 26(1)). Once the writ is indorsed and returned (s 27), the Commissioner’s administrative recount power has passed. Parties wishing to challenge results after indorsement must rely on the parliamentary referral to the Supreme Court (s 28), not an administrative recount.

6. Gazette publication as prima facie conclusive evidence. The Commissioner’s published statement in the Gazette is, subject to this Act, “conclusive evidence of the result of the referendum” (s 27(2)). That imposes a short window for challenge by Parliament and emphasises prompt action where errors are suspected.

7. s 34 exclusion on proof of intended vote. If an elector was prevented from voting because of the absence or error of an officer, the Court must not admit evidence of how the elector intended to vote when deciding whether the error affected the result (s 34, proviso). That limits the admissible evidence in close-result disputes where disenfranchisement occurred by administrative error.

8. Simultaneous election operational coupling. If the referendum coincides with an election, the referendum ballot-paper cannot be issued unless the elector receives an election ballot-paper (s 16(e)). The Act further requires different ballot colours (s 16(d)) and that ballot-papers for the referendum be placed in the same envelope as the election ballot-paper where envelopes are used (s 16(f)). That coupling has practical consequences for supply, ballot issuance checks and mail handling logistics.

9. Offences and models of liability. Sections 37-40 create offences with heavy maximum penalties (100 penalty units or three years’ imprisonment), but the Act does not provide guidance on the elements of mens rea beyond wording such as “with a view to influence” or “in order to influence”. Charging decisions and proof of intent will be material issues in prosecutions under these sections.

10. Reliance on the Electoral Act 2017 for many operational details. The Act incorporates the Electoral Act 2017 extensively (s 5); many crucial procedural points (for example the exact form of roll certification, the mechanics of ballot signature/initialling, failure-to-vote enforcement processes under s 207 and s 259 of the Electoral Act 2017) are contained in that statute. Practitioners must read both Acts together to avoid missing rule interactions (s 5; s 36).

These gotchas create operational and legal risk. The Act centralises decision points in returning officers and the Electoral Commissioner, and provides narrow timing windows and strict consequences for certain defects and campaign conduct.

Compliance strategies differ by actor. The steps below are a practical checklist mapped to the main duties and prohibitions in the Act and indicate documents and processes to check. Citations to the relevant sections are provided.

For the Governor and executive advisers

• When considering issuing a writ, ensure the writ language aligns with Form A in the Second Schedule where appropriate and that the appointed polling day is a Saturday within forty days of issue, unless there is a lawful reason to exercise any regulatory power under s 35 to alter times (ss 6-8; s 7(2); Second Schedule Form A).
• If the Bill being submitted is the specific Bill mentioned in s 7(3) (Constitution (Fixed Term Parliaments) Amendment Bill 1991 or its re-introduction), ensure the polling day is no later than the day named for the taking of the poll in the next general election as defined by the referenced Special Provisions Act (s 7(3)).

For the Electoral Commissioner and electoral staff

• On receipt of the writ, indorse the writ with the date of receipt and immediately publish notice in the Gazette and at least two newspapers, exhibit the Bill or statement at Local Courts and forward copies to returning officers as mandated (s 9).
• Ensure all polling places and subdivisions used are the same as those appointed for elections (s 12), and coordinate supplies of ballot-papers in the prescribed forms (s 15; Second Schedule).
• Ensure postal voting procedures align with Form D instructions, including the exhibitory requirement to the authorised witness (s 15(1); Second Schedule Form D).
• Coordinate returning officers and deputies so that, at close of poll, only authorised persons (returning officer, deputy, poll clerks) are present during scrutiny and counting (s 19).
• Ensure returning officers make up sealed parcels of used and unused ballot-papers, certified rolls and other papers, endorse and transmit them promptly to the returning officer and to the Electoral Commissioner, and prepare verified statements of totals (ss 22-25).
• Be ready to direct recounts prior to indorsement of the writ if requested or if errors are suspected; ensure recounts follow the scrutiny powers and that prior admission/rejection decisions can be reversed (s 26).
• On completion, indorse the writ with per-electorate and statewide totals, sign and return it to the Governor and promptly publish the statement in the Gazette (s 27).

For returning officers and polling staff

• Train staff on grounds for informality in this Act and the detailed signing/initialling requirements in the Electoral Act 2017; returning officers’ opinions on identifying marks determine informality in part (s 20; s 21).
• Ensure strict compliance with postal ballot witness and envelope procedures and check that voters do not mark a postal ballot before exhibiting it to the authorised witness as required in Form D (Second Schedule).
• Keep accurate accounts of ballot-papers issued, used and unused and prepare the statements required under s 23 and s 25 for transmission to the Electoral Commissioner.
• If a recount is ordered, be prepared to apply the same scrutiny standards and to reverse earlier decisions on ballots as necessary (s 26).

For campaign groups, NGOs, community organisations and private hosts

• Immediately upon the issue of a writ, stop any provision of meat, drink, entertainment or transport intended to influence voting by electors (s 37). The statutory wording covers supply with a view to influence between writ issue and polling.
• Avoid any offers, promises or conferrals of money, property or benefits intended to influence votes or to induce non-voting; such conduct may attract the bribery offence (s 38). Do not entertain arrangements where recipients might reasonably expect payment in return for their vote; electors receiving such benefits are separately criminally liable (s 39).
• Ensure event security and conduct at public meetings obey the rules: do not organise, arrange or permit disorderly conduct that prevents the business of lawful public meetings held in relation to the referendum (s 42).
• Ensure any promotional material that depicts a ballot-paper or instructs how to vote does not include representations or directions intended or likely to mislead electors, and that statements of fact are accurate; avoid publishing representations of ballot-papers that could confuse voters (s 41).
• Seek legal advice before running any incentive or inducement programs near the referendum period. Note the high maximum penalties for bribery, supply and undue influence offences (ss 37-40).

For legal advisers and compliance teams

• Treat the Electoral Act 2017 as co-extensive and inspect it carefully for signature, roll, postal voting, and failure-to-vote rules that apply when a referendum is treated as an election (s 5; s 16(i); s 36).
• Be aware of the tight timetable for parliamentary referral to the Supreme Court: either House has 15 sitting days after Gazette publication of the Commissioner’s statement to make a referral (s 28). Take steps to preserve evidence and to move promptly if challenging results.
• Where combined ballots or same-day elections are proposed, review the potential for ballot confusion and the consequences of Form E’s rule that an identifying mark renders all the forms on a combined paper informal (s 15(5)).
• Where close results, disenfranchisement claims or counting errors arise, remember recounts must be sought prior to indorsement of the writ and that post-indorsement relief routes are primarily the parliamentary referral to the Supreme Court (ss 26-28; s 27(2)).

Documentary and training checklist

• Copies of Forms A, B, D, E (Second Schedule) made available and integrated into training materials (s 15; Second Schedule).
• Standard operating checklists for returning officers and deputies addressing parcel sealing, endorsements and signature verification (ss 22-24).
• Communications templates for the Electoral Commissioner’s Gazette and newspaper notices (s 9).
• Legal risk register tracking potential bribery, undue influence, misleading publication and hospitality-related offences during the writ-to-poll window (ss 37-42).

Adherence to these steps and the cross-reference checks against the Electoral Act 2017 will materially reduce administrative error and legal exposure.