207Offence of failing to vote

#### 207 Offence of failing to vote 207 Offence of failing to vote > Note. > > Section 11B of the [Constitution Act 1902](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1902-032) provides that every person who is entitled to vote at a periodic Council election or the election of a Member of the Legislative Assembly must vote at the election and if the person does not do so, the person is liable to such penalty as may be provided by law. > > > (1) An elector who fails to vote at an election is guilty of an offence. > > > > Maximum penalty—1 penalty unit. > > > (2) For the purposes of any proceedings for an offence against subsection (1), a person is taken to have voted if the person has— > > > > > (a) been given a ballot paper by an election official and has placed that ballot paper in a ballot box (whether inside an envelope or not), or > > > > > (b) posted or delivered a ballot paper in a postal voting envelope to the Electoral Commissioner (or caused it to be so posted or delivered), or > > > > > (c) voted in any other manner permitted by this Act. > > > > > > Note. > > > > > > This provision is a machinery provision to make it clear that a prosecution under this section is subject to the principle of the secret ballot. A prosecutor should not and cannot prove in court that a person has marked their ballot paper in any particular manner. > > > (2A) It is not a defence to a prosecution under this section that the defendant did not know that the election was being conducted. > > > (3) In this section, elector does not include— > > > > > (a) an eligible overseas elector, or > > > > > (b) an itinerant elector. > > **s 207:** Am 2026 No 6, Sch 1\[90\].