Summary
Amends the:
Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984
to: align postal voting procedures in referendums with equivalent procedures in federal elections; enable the early opening and sorting of pre-poll ordinary votes, and the extraction of declaration votes during preliminary scrutiny; align authorisation requirements with the
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
; establish a financial disclosure and foreign donation restrictions framework for referendum campaigning; prohibit foreign donations of $100 or more for referendum campaigning, and prohibit foreign campaigners from fundraising or directly incurring referendum expenditure in a financial year equal to or more than $1,000; enable the Electoral Commissioner to make modifications to certain aspects of a referendum during a declared emergency; and make technical amendments; and
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
and
Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984
to: extend the application of the designated elector framework to referendums; and make consequential amendments.