Qualification and Disqualification of Electors

A person may not be on the roll if he or she: is, because of being of unsound mind, incapable of understanding the nature and significance of enrolment and voting; is serving a prison sentence of 12 months or more; is the holder of a temporary entry permit; or is a prohibited immigrant (s 21).

Qualification of Electors

Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912
20 Qualification of electors

(1) Subject to sections 21 and 32–41, all persons:

(a) who have attained 18 years of age, and

(b) who are:


(i) Australian citizens, or

(ii) persons (other than Australian citizens) who would, if the relevant Commonwealth law had continued in force, be persons who have the status of a British subject and who were, immediately before 26 January 1984, enrolled as electors for the Assembly or enrolled in any other State or Territory of the Commonwealth as electors for the House of Representatives,

(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4) and section 21, an elector whose name is on the roll for a subdivision is entitled to vote at any election for the Assembly for the district.

(3) An elector:

(a) whose name has been placed on a roll in pursuance of a claim made under section 33A, and

(b) who has not attained 18 years of age on the date appointed for the taking of the poll for an election,

(4) Notwithstanding section 33A or any enrolment in pursuance of a claim made under that section, for the purposes of this Act in its application in relation to an election, a person who has not attained 18 years of age on the date appointed for the taking of the poll for that election shall not be taken to be:

(a) entitled to be enrolled on a roll, or

(b) enrolled on a roll.

(6) An elector, other than a relevant elector, is not entitled to vote at an election as an elector of the subdivision of the district in respect of which the elector is enrolled unless the real place of living of the elector was, at some time within the 3 months immediately preceding polling day for that election, within that subdivision.

(7) Notwithstanding anything in this Act:

(a) an elector who has changed his or her place of living to another place within the same subdivision, or to another subdivision of the same district, shall not be deemed by reason only of that change to be dispossessed of the qualification in respect of which the elector is enrolled, and

(b) an elector who, within 3 months before any election has changed his or her place of living to another district, may vote at that election for the district for which the elector’s name appears on the roll as provided by this Act for the purposes of that election.

relevant Commonwealth law means the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 of the Commonwealth as amended and in force immediately before 1 May 1987 and the regulations in force immediately before that day under that Act as so amended and in force.

relevant elector means:

(a) an Antarctic elector,

(b) an eligible overseas elector, or

(c) an itinerant elector.

An elector:

(a) whose name is on the roll for a subdivision,

(b) who intends to cease to reside in Australia and then, not later than 6 years after the day on which the elector ceases to reside there, to resume residing in Australia, whether in that subdivision or elsewhere, and

(c) whose name appears on the electoral roll maintained under the Commonwealth Act for a Commonwealth subdivision and that roll is annotated to indicate that the elector is an eligible overseas elector under section 94 of the Commonwealth Act,

(d) to have the elector’s name retained on the roll for the subdivision corresponding with the Commonwealth subdivision referred to in paragraph (c) with an annotation to indicate that the elector is an eligible overseas elector, and

(e) to vote as an elector of the subdivision.

(1) A person:

(a) who is the spouse or child of a person who is an eligible overseas elector in relation to a subdivision by virtue of section 20A,

(b) who is living at a place outside Australia so as to be with or near the eligible overseas elector,

(c) who had not attained 18 years of age when last ceasing to reside in Australia,

(d) whose name is not, and has not been, on a roll,

(e) who is not qualified for enrolment under section 20 but would be so qualified if the person resided in a subdivision,

(f) who intends to resume residing in Australia not later than 6 years after the day on which the person attains 18 years of age, and

(g) whose name has been added to an electoral roll maintained under the Commonwealth Act for a Commonwealth subdivision and that roll is annotated to indicate that the elector is an eligible overseas elector under section 95 of the Commonwealth Act,

(h) to have the person’s name retained on the roll for the subdivision, and

(i) to vote as an elector of the subdivision.

(3) In this section:

child includes an exnuptial child.

spouse, in relation to a person (in this subsection referred to as the relevant person) includes a person who, although not legally married to the relevant person, lives with the relevant person as the spouse of the relevant person on a permanent and bona fide domestic basis.

Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912
20C Itinerant electors

A person:

(a) who is in Australia but does not reside in any subdivision,

(b) who is not entitled to have his or her name placed on or retained on the roll for any subdivision only because the person does not reside in any subdivision, and

(c) whose name has been added to an electoral roll maintained under the Commonwealth Act for the Commonwealth subdivision with which the person has established a connection under section 96 of that Act and the roll maintained under that Act is annotated to indicate that the elector is an itinerant elector under section 96 of that Act,

(d) to have the person’s name retained on the roll for the subdivision, and

(e) to vote as an elector of the subdivision.

Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912
21 Disqualifications from voting

A person shall not be entitled to have his name placed or retained on any roll if he:

(a) is, because of being of unsound mind, incapable of understanding the nature and significance of enrolment and voting, or

(b) has been convicted of a crime or an offence, whether in New South Wales or elsewhere, and has been sentenced in respect of that crime or offence to imprisonment for 12 months or more and is in prison serving that sentence, or

(c) is the holder of a temporary entry permit or is a prohibited immigrant under the Migration Act 1958 of the Parliament of the Commonwealth, as amended and in force for the time being.



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