44Pre‑poll voting

44 Pre‑poll voting

(1) An officer to whom an elector properly applies for a pre‑poll vote (in this rule called the issuing officer) must issue to the elector:

(a) a pre‑poll voter card attached to an envelope; and

(b) a ballot‑paper.

(2) Before issuing the ballot‑paper, the issuing officer must initial, in writing, the back of the ballot‑paper.

(3) The following requirements for pre‑poll voting must be substantially given effect:

(a) the elector must sign the pre‑poll voter card in the presence of the issuing officer;

(b) the issuing officer must sign the pre‑poll voter card as witness and write on the pre‑poll voter card the date of his or her signing it;

(c) the elector must mark his or her vote on the ballot‑paper in the presence of the issuing officer but so that the officer cannot see the vote, fold the ballot‑paper and hand it to the officer;

(d) the issuing officer must immediately:

(i) place the ballot‑paper in the envelope attached to the pre‑poll voter card; and

(ii) seal the envelope;

(e) the elector must have the pre‑poll voter card certified by:

(i) an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander who is an office‑bearer of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Corporation; or

(ii) a member of the staff of the TSRA or the Commission;

to the effect that the elector is an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander;

(ea) if not satisfied about a matter mentioned in paragraph (e), the issuing officer must:

(i) separate the envelope containing the ballot‑paper from the pre‑poll voter card; and

(ii) disallow the ballot‑paper without opening the envelope that contains it and:

(A) place the envelope in a parcel with all the other envelopes containing ballot‑papers which have been disallowed under this subparagraph; and

(B) seal the parcel and endorse on the parcel a description of the contents, the name of the ward and the date; and

(iii) refer the pre‑poll voter card to a senior liaison officer for further investigation under rule 50A;

(f) if paragraph (ea) does not apply, the issuing officer must:

(i) separate the pre‑poll voter card from the envelope that contains it and place the envelope in a ballot‑box; and

(ii) place the pre‑poll voter card in a folder provided for the purpose of keeping a record of pre‑poll voters;

(g) at the conclusion of polling, the issuing officer must:

(i) if the issuing officer is not the Returning Officer — forward the pre‑poll voter cards and envelopes to the Returning Officer according to his or her directions; or