Electoral Commission Emergency Plans Tabled
The Minister of Justice today tabled in the House of Representatives the Electoral Commission’s briefing paper, Plans for Managing Adjournment of Polling in an Emergency, which outlines the measures that the Electoral Commission would take should a significant emergency occur in the lead-up to or on polling day.
In an emergency, voting in affected areas would be adjourned until it was safe to resume. Polling elsewhere would proceed, and preliminary results would be released on election night for those areas where voting had been unaffected. The election would be completed, including the return of the writ and the election of successful list candidates, once voting had resumed and been completed in those areas affected.
There is a long-standing provision in the Electoral Act for such events, but it has never been invoked.
While the Electoral Commission hopes this planning will not be required, it is important that the public are aware of the processes in place to manage the conduct of the election and referendum in case of a major emergency.
A copy of the paper is attached for your reference.