Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:C2025C00152:section:273:p9
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:C2025C00152
Segment Type: section
Provision Reference: s 273 (pt 9/10)
Character Range: 560900–563492

next highest in the poll, and so on in the order in which the continuing candidates stand in the poll.
 (29A) If, at a particular time, 2 or more continuing candidates in a Senate election for a State are in an unbreakable tie, the Australian Electoral Officer for the State must determine by lot the order of standing of those candidates relative to each other at that time.
 (30) In this section, a reference to votes, or ballot papers, as the case may be, of or obtained or received by a candidate includes votes, or ballot papers, as the case may be, obtained or received by the candidate on any transfer under this section.
 (31) For the purposes of this section, at any time after the counting of first preference votes the order of standing of the continuing candidates in the poll shall be determined as follows:
 (a) subject to paragraphs (b) and (c), the continuing candidates shall stand in the poll in the order of the relative number of votes of each continuing candidate, with the continuing candidate with the greatest number of votes standing highest in the poll and the continuing candidate with the fewest number of votes standing lowest in the poll;
 (b) if 2 continuing candidates have the same number of votes at that time—those candidates are to stand in the poll in their relative order of standing at that time;
 (c) if 3 or more continuing candidates have the same number of votes at that time—those candidates are to stand in the poll in the order determined in accordance with subsection (31A).
 (31A) For the purposes of paragraph (31)(c), if 3 or more continuing candidates (the tied candidates) have the same number of votes at a particular time, the tied candidates are to stand in the poll in the order determined by:
 (a) identifying each possible combination of 2 tied candidates; and
 (b) for each combination of 2 tied candidates identified under paragraph (a), working out the relative order of standing, at that time, of those 2 candidates; and
 (c) ranking all of the tied candidates such that:
 (i) the tied candidate who has a higher relative order of standing, at that time, than each other tied candidate stands highest in the poll; and
 (ii) a tied candidate who has a higher relative order of standing, at that time, than another tied candidate stands higher in the poll than that other candidate; and
 (iii) the tied candidate who does not have a higher relative order of standing, at that time, than any other tied candidate stands lowest in the poll.
 (32) When the last vacancy is filled, the scrutiny shall immediately cease and any exclusion