118Mobile voting centres at declared facilities

118 Mobile voting centres at declared facilities

118 Mobile voting centres at declared facilities

(1A) The Electoral Commissioner may, in an approval, declare that a hospital, nursing home, retirement village, correctional centre or similar facility must be provided with a mobile voting centre (a declared facility).

(1B) A declared facility is, for this part, taken to be an early voting centre while voting is occurring at the facility.

(1C) Before making a declaration under subsection (1A) for a correctional centre, the Electoral Commissioner must consult the Commissioner of Corrective Services.

(1) An election official at a declared facility may, on any day appointed by the Electoral Commissioner for the operation of the mobile voting centre at the declared facility, enter into and remain in the declared facility for the purpose of enabling electors to vote in accordance with this section.

(2) A mobile voting centre at a declared facility, other than a correctional centre, must be used to give an opportunity to vote to every elector who—

(a) is for the time being resident in the declared facility in which the voting centre is situated, and

(b) by reason of illness or infirmity, or, (without limitation) in the case of a woman, by reason of approaching maternity, is unable to attend at the voting centre to record the elector’s vote, and

(c) has, by message to the voting centre manager, requested an opportunity to vote at the mobile voting centre (a voting request message).

(2A) A mobile voting centre at a declared facility that is a correctional centre must be used to give an opportunity to vote to each elector who is an inmate in the correctional centre and not other electors.

(3) A member of staff of a declared facility given a voting request message must deliver the message to the voting centre manager, unless otherwise ordered by a registered medical practitioner, or a manager or other person in charge of the declared facility, on medical grounds.

Maximum penalty—5 penalty units.

(4) If a voting request message is received by the voting centre manager, the voting centre manager is to direct the election official in charge of a mobile voting centre to give the elector an opportunity to vote by visiting the elector at some time before the close of voting.