51Scrutiny of ballot papers

51 Scrutiny of ballot papers

(1) For the purpose of conducting a scrutiny of the ballot papers forwarded by the Assistant Returning Officer under subregulation 50 (2), the Divisional Returning Officer must conduct the scrutiny. (2) The procedures in Part XVIII of the Act apply to the scrutiny with the modifications necessary to ensure that: (a) no preliminary scrutiny mentioned in section 266 of the Act is to be conducted; and (b) the electronically assisted vote is taken to be a pre‑poll ordinary vote; and (c) it is irrelevant that the voter did not complete the ballot paper personally; and (d) it is irrelevant that the vote can be identified as being cast by a sight‑impaired person. (3) A person commits an offence if the person: (a) is not the Divisional Returning Officer, or a person performing tasks under the direction of the Divisional Returning Officer; and (b) conducts the scrutiny. Penalty: 5 penalty units. (4) An offence under subregulation (3) is an offence of strict liability.

Note: For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.