Electoral (Electronic Documents and Other Matters) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning and Local Government) (16:19): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Electoral Act 1985. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning and Local Government) (16:19): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am pleased to introduce the Electoral (Electronic Documents and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2021. This bill is in response to the Electoral Commissioner's report on the 2018 state election, and proposes a number of amendments to the Electoral Act 1985.

The proposed amendments to this bill will improve administration, streamline and modernise processes, and allow for more flexible pre-poll voting options. The bill will enable the state to provide voting services that are more consistent with options available in other jurisdictions, and meet community expectations.

Under this bill, the Electoral Commissioner will be able to establish pre-poll booths anywhere in South Australia up to 12 days before the election. This will replace the existing system, which provides for people to vote at declared institutions such as nursing homes or hospitals and only allows mobile polling booths to be established in regional areas.

The bill provides that voters who attend pre-poll booths established for their district will have the convenience of being able to cast an ordinary vote. The counting of ordinary votes made at pre-polling booths will be able to occur before the close of polls in prescribed circumstances. This will help to ensure that the results of the election are known as soon as possible after the close of polls.

These changes are possible because each voter will be marked off on an electronic electoral roll on a computer at each issuing point in every polling place. With technology constantly evolving and improving, the electronic roll mark-off will ensure there is no risk of any person voting multiple times.

The bill contains amendments so that both voters and candidates will have flexible options of lodging information with the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commissioner will be able to allow candidates to lodge information for nominations, voting tickets, how-to-vote cards and descriptive information for ballots online. Regulations can be made allowing voters to apply for postal ballots by phone or online.

Amendments have also been made to the date for the close of rolls and the deadline to apply for postal votes. This allows the earlier issue of voting papers, and will maximise opportunities for postal voters to return their postal votes in time to be counted in the election. The bill provides that both election information and public notices will be published on the internet rather than in a newspaper in the first instance; however, it will remain open to the Electoral Commissioner to publish notices in newspapers as is necessary, such as in regional newspapers.

The act already provides voting options for a class of voters who do not have fixed addresses; however, this bill includes new protections for these itinerant electors. If itinerant electors fail to vote or are outside of South Australia for more than one month they will not lose their status, nor will they be fined if they do not vote. This is to avoid creating hardship for people experiencing homelessness and for travelling retirees.

The bill expands the options for assisted voting which are currently available for sight-impaired voters. The class of voters who can access assisted voting and the method of assisted voting will be prescribed by regulations. Overseas voters have been disenfranchised by the increasingly slow postal systems in recent years. For example, regulations could provide that voters with a range of disabilities and voters living overseas will be able to cast their ballot using telephone-assisted voting.

The misleading advertising provisions contained in section 113 of the act will be amended. Currently, this section allows for the Electoral Commissioner, if satisfied that an electoral advertisement contains a fact that is inaccurate and misleading to a material extent, to request that an advertiser withdraw the advertisement and publish a retraction. The Electoral Commissioner can also make an application to the Supreme Court seeking orders.

The bill removes this decision-making function from the Electoral Commissioner, and provides that an application can be made to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to seek orders for retraction and withdrawal of the misleading advertisement. There are rights of appeal to either the Court of Appeal or a single judge of the Supreme Court under the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act, depending on the circumstances.

In the 2018 election report, the Electoral Commissioner set out the significant challenges of regulating misleading advertising. The amendments will mean that the Electoral Commissioner will be able to focus on administering the act in the lead-up to an election without having to become involved in potential bipartisan disputes.

The bill also allows for a single authorisation of a poster that comprises multiple how-to-vote cards. This will make preparing these posters simpler for political parties and easier to read for voters. A number of amendments are drafted to allow regulations for the Electoral Commissioner to set out the detail of the proposed processes. This will enable further changes to be made in the future as the technology evolves.

I place on the record my appreciation—and I am sure that of all members of the house—for the work of the Electoral Commission, the commissioner and his staff to ensure that we have this full report from the 2018 election, and have his recommendations from which this bill flows. Thirdly, I wish him well in the forthcoming 18 months in which he is likely to have federal, state and local government elections. He and his team are going to be very busy.

I commend the bill to the house and seek leave to have the explanation of clauses inserted in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

3—Amendment provisions

These clauses are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Electoral Act 1985

4—Amendment of section 4—Interpretation

Certain definitions are amended for the purposes of the measure.

5—Amendment of section 8—Powers and functions of Electoral Commissioner

A function of the Electoral Commissioner to promote and encourage the casting of votes at a polling booth on polling day is deleted.

6—Amendment of section 15—Electoral subdivisions

Subsection (3) relating to remote subdivisions is deleted.

7—Amendment of section 18—Polling places

A requirement to advertise in a newspaper is amended to publication on a website and in any other manner prescribed by the regulations.

8—Repeal of section 25

Section 25 relating to printing of rolls is repealed.

9—Amendment of section 26—Inspection and provision of rolls

This amendment is consequential.

10—Amendment of section 31A—Itinerant persons

2 grounds on which an itinerant elector ceases to be entitled to be enrolled are deleted.

11—Amendment of section 41—Publication of notice of application

A requirement to publish in a newspaper is amended to publication on a website and in any other manner prescribed by the regulations.

12—Amendment of section 48—Contents of writ

The date for the close of rolls (currently, 6 days after the issue of the writ) is amended to the day that falls 2 days after the issue of the writ.

The requirement to publish the writ for an election in a newspaper is amended to publication on a website and in any other manner prescribed by the regulations.

13—Amendment of section 49—Deferral of election

A requirement to publish notice of deferral of an election in a newspaper is amended to publication on a website and in any other manner prescribed by the regulations.

14—Amendment of section 53—Nomination of candidates endorsed by political party

Various references in the section (such as to 'nomination paper') are removed to facilitate electronic nominations.

15—Amendment of section 53A—Nomination of candidate by a person

Similar amendments to those to section 53 are made to this section.

16—Amendment of section 54—Declaration of nominations

This amendment is consequential.

17—Amendment of section 58—Grouping of candidates in Legislative Council election

A requirement relating to a signature is changed to a requirement to endorse in a prescribed manner.

18—Amendment of section 60A—Voting tickets

Various references in the section to written notices and authorisations are changed to facilitate electronic processes.

19—Amendment of section 62—Printing of descriptive information on ballot papers

Various references in the section to written authorisations and signatures are changed to facilitate electronic processes.

20—Amendment of section 65—Properly staffed polling booths to be provided

The reference to 'returning officer for the district' is replaced with 'Electoral Commissioner'. The other amendment requires polling booths to be established at polling places 'for' the district (rather than 'within' the district).

21—Amendment of section 66—Preparation of certain electoral material

The requirement to submit a quantity of how to vote cards is replaced with a requirement to submit them in a manner determined by the Electoral Commissioner (in accordance with any requirements of the Commissioner).

Another amendment is technical.

22—Amendment of section 71—Manner of voting

Voting by attending at a pre-polling booth and voting in the manner prescribed by this Act (not by declaration vote) is authorised. A change is made to section 71(2)(a) that is connected to the amendment to section 65(1)(a). The distance from a polling booth that a voter must be in order to be entitled to make a declaration vote is increased to 20 km. Another amendment relates to residents of a declared institutions.

23—Amendment of section 72—Questions to be put to person claiming to vote

The words 'and the address of the principal place of residence of the claimant' are deleted from the questions to be put to a voter before an authorised officer issues voting papers.

24—Amendment of section 73—Issue of voting papers

A reference to 'written' is deleted. Another amendment proposes relocating certain requirements to the regulations.

25—Amendment of section 74—Issue of declaration voting papers by post or other means

Section 74(1)(b) is amended to remove a reference to 'letter' and to allow certain requirements to be prescribed by regulations. A definition of designated time is inserted for the purposes of this amendment. The substitution of subsection (2) is related. A reference to 'mobile polling booth' is substituted with 'pre-polling booth'.

26—Amendment of section 77—Times and places for polling

A reference to determining 'mobile polling booths' as places for voting in remote subdivisions is substituted with 'pre-polling booth' for any places determined by the Electoral Commissioner. Other amendments are consequential.

27—Repeal of section 83

The provision relating to taking declaration votes at a declared institution is deleted.

28—Amendment of heading to Part 9 Division 5A

This amendment is consequential.

29—Amendment of section 84A—Assisted voting for prescribed electors

Currently, the assisted voting scheme relates to sight-impaired electors. The scope of the scheme is broadened to include an elector of a class prescribed by the regulations. Another amendment provides that the regulations may prescribe 1 or more assisted voting methods.

30—Amendment of section 84B—Applying provisions of Act to elector using assisted voting

31—Amendment of section 84C—Electoral Commissioner may determine that assisted voting is not to be used

These amendments are consequential.

32—Amendment of section 85—Compulsory voting

Being an itinerant elector is added to the list of sufficient reasons for failing to vote at an election.

33—Amendment of section 89—Scrutiny

These amendments relate to the commencement of the scrutiny of ordinary votes taken at pre-polling booths before polling day at such times and places and in such manner before the close of poll determined by the Electoral Commissioner.

34—Amendment of section 91—Preliminary scrutiny

Section 91(1)(b)(i)(A) is substituted so that the relevant officer conducting the scrutiny is required to be satisfied of the identity of the elector (which must be verified in a manner prescribed by the regulations).

35—Amendment of section 112A—Special provision relating to how-to-vote cards

New subsection (7a) disapplies section 112A(1)(a) and (b) in relation to a how-to-vote card published as part of other material if that material is an electoral advertisement authorised in accordance with section 112.

36—Amendment of section 113—Misleading advertising

SACAT is authorised to make orders relating to inaccurate and misleading electoral advertisements (currently, this function is conferred on the Electoral Commissioner).

37—Amendment of section 116A—Evidence

This amendment is consequential on the amendment to section 113.

38—Amendment of section 125—Prohibition of canvassing near polling booths

This amendment is consequential on the amendments relating to declared institutions.

39—Insertion of section 129A

New section 129A is inserted:

129A—False or misleading information

An offence is prescribed that a person must not, in giving any information under the Act, make a statement knowing it to be false or misleading or omit any matter from a statement knowing that without that matter the statement is false or misleading.

40—Amendment of section 132—Injunctions

Subsection (2), which prevents an injunction from being granted under section 132 in relation to a contravention of, or non-compliance with, Division 2 of Part 13 of the Act (which sets out offences relating to electoral advertisements, commentaries and other material), is deleted.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. Z.L. Bettison.