Summary
Amends the
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
to: respond to a recommendation of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters'
Report on the conduct of the 2016 federal election and matters related thereto
by requiring the Electoral Commissioner to implement certain processes to assure the security and accuracy of the computer systems (including the systems for scanning ballot papers and counting votes) used to scrutinise votes for a Senate election; clarify the process for resolving candidate ties; clarify that the 'bulk exclusion' process is not required to be used in the computerised scrutiny process; allow a scrutineer to request access to an original ballot paper to resolve a question about formality or a preference vote being counted in the scrutiny of a Senate election; and require the Electoral Commissioner to publish Senate election data for each formal ballot case in the election within 7 days of the return of the writ for a Senate election.