46AForwarding of declaration votes

#### 46A Forwarding of declaration votes Presiding officer to forward declaration votes to ARO (1) A presiding officer at a polling place must forward to the Assistant Returning Officer designated for the purposes of this subsection by the Divisional Returning Officer any ballot‑boxes containing envelopes bearing certificates or declarations made by persons who have cast declaration votes and which purport to contain the ballot papers of such voters, together with records that the presiding officer or a polling official has made in accordance with paragraph 67(2)(e) and subsection 34(2). (1A) A pre‑poll voting officer who: (a) receives an envelope bearing a postal vote certificate and purporting to contain a postal ballot paper; or (b) places a ballot paper in an envelope under subsection 73D(7); must forward the envelope, and the record made under paragraph 67(2)(e) or subsection 73F(2), as the case may be, in relation to the receipt or issue of the envelope, to the Divisional Returning Officer for the Division for which the pre‑poll voting officer is appointed. (1B) Envelopes and records required to be forwarded under subsection (1A) must be so forwarded according to the instructions of the Divisional Returning Officer. (2) An Assistant Returning Officer to whom a ballot‑box is forwarded under subsection (1) or subsection 51(10) must: (a) compare the particulars on the envelopes with the particulars appearing in the relevant records forwarded to the Assistant Returning Officer under this Act, note the number of envelopes and report any discrepancy to a Divisional Returning Officer; (b) place the envelopes in one or more securely fastened containers, and cause them to be delivered to a Divisional Returning Officer; and (c) forward to that Divisional Returning Officer advice in writing of the total number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations enclosed in the containers delivered to that Divisional Returning Officer. (2A) Each Divisional Returning Officer to whom envelopes or records are forwarded under subsection (1A) must: (a) compare the particulars on the envelopes with the particulars appearing in the records made under paragraph 67(2)(e) or subsection 73F(2), note the number of envelopes and, if the envelopes are to be forwarded to another Divisional Returning Officer, report any discrepancies to that Divisional Returning Officer; and (b) place the envelopes, together with the record made under paragraph 67(2)(e) or subsection 73F(2), in one or more securely fastened containers; and (c) if the envelopes are to be forwarded to another Divisional Returning Officer: (i) cause the envelopes to be delivered to the other Divisional Returning Officer; and (ii) forward to the other Divisional Returning Officer advice in writing of the total number of envelopes delivered to that Divisional Returning Officer. Obligations on DROs in relation to declaration votes (3) Each Divisional Returning Officer to whom advices or envelopes are forwarded under subsection (2) or (2A), or who deals with advices or envelopes under subsection (2A), must: (a) maintain a record of the particulars of the advices, and of the number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, received from each Assistant Returning Officer and pre‑poll voting officer; and (b) until they are dealt with under another provision of this Act, keep the envelopes so received in one or more securely fastened containers; and (c) compare the record referred to in paragraph (a) with the envelopes received and note any discrepancies. (3A) After receiving envelopes in accordance with subparagraph 67(6)(b)(iii), each DRO: (a) must compare the records received by the DRO in accordance with that subparagraph with the envelopes and note any discrepancy; and (b) except as necessary for the purposes of paragraph (a), keep the envelopes in one or more securely‑fastened containers until the envelopes are dealt with under other provisions of this Act. DROs to forward declaration votes to the appropriate DROs (4) A Divisional Returning Officer must do the following in relation to envelopes bearing certificates or declarations dealt with under this section: (a) place in a parcel all the envelopes bearing certificates or declarations that relate to a particular Division; (b) endorse on the parcel the number of envelopes; (c) seal up the parcel and cause the parcel to be delivered to the Divisional Returning Officer for that Division to be dealt with in accordance with subsection (5); (d) forward to that Divisional Returning Officer advice in writing of the total number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations enclosed in the parcel delivered to that Divisional Returning Officer. Obligations on DROs who receive declaration votes under subsection (4) or (9) (5) Each Divisional Returning Officer for a Division to whom advices, or envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, are forwarded under subsection (4) or (9) must: (a) maintain a record of the particulars of the advices, and of the number of envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, received under that subsection; and (b) maintain a securely fastened container and identify it as a declaration vote container; and (c) keep in that container, until the scrutiny, all envelopes bearing a certificate or declaration and purporting to contain a ballot paper recording a declaration vote in relation to the Division that, in accordance with subsection (5A), are received within sufficient time to be taken into account in the scrutiny. (5A) An envelope referred to in paragraph (5)(c) is received by a DRO within sufficient time to be taken into account in the scrutiny if it is received by the DRO within 13 days after the close of the poll (whether directly from the voter or from another DRO or a person referred to in subsection (9)). > Note: An envelope is also received within sufficient time to be taken into account in the scrutiny if it is received by a person who is authorised under section 6A. (6) Before placing in the container maintained under subsection (5) an envelope purporting to contain a postal ballot paper and delivered to a Divisional Returning Officer which is received after the close of the poll and which does not bear evidence sufficient to satisfy the Divisional Returning Officer that the vote contained in the envelope was recorded before the close of the poll, the Divisional Returning Officer must endorse on the envelope the date of its receipt and must initial the endorsement. Declaration votes received outside Australia to be forwarded to a specified person (8) An Assistant Returning Officer at a place outside Australia must, in accordance with the written instructions of the Electoral Commissioner, deal with and forward envelopes bearing certificates or declarations, and the relevant records made by the officer under paragraph 67(2)(e) or subsection 73F(2), to such person as are specified in those instructions. (9) Where envelopes or records relating to a particular Division are forwarded under subsection (8) to a person other than the Divisional Returning Officer for that Division, that person must, as soon as practicable, deliver them, or cause them to be delivered, to that Divisional Returning Officer.