Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:C2025C00128:section:46a:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:C2025C00128
Segment Type: section
Provision Reference: s 46A (pt 1/3)
Character Range: 104743–107707

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