Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) A ballot paper in a Senate election is not informal under paragraph 268(1)(b) if:
(a) the voter has marked the ballot paper in accordance with paragraph 239(1)(b); or
(b) if there are more than 6 squares printed on the ballot paper below the line--the voter has consecutively numbered any of those squares from 1 to 6 (whether or not the voter has also included one or more higher numbers in those squares).
(2) For the purposes of this Act:
(a) a voter who, in a square printed on the ballot paper below the line, marks only a single tick or cross is taken as having written the number 1 in the square; and
(b) the following numbers written in a square printed on the ballot paper below the line are to be disregarded:
(i) numbers that are repeated and any higher numbers;
(ii) if a number is missed--any numbers that are higher than the missing number.
Note: Paragraph (2)(b) applies both for the purposes of determining whether a ballot paper is formal, and for the purposes of determining which numbers marked on a ballot paper are counted in the election.
Example: A ballot paper has squares below the line that are numbered 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5 and 6. The vote is informal because, by disregarding the numbers 3 and upwards under subparagraph (2)(b)(i), only 2 squares have been numbered.
A second ballot paper has squares below the line that are numbered consecutively from 1 to 9 and then 11, 12, 13 and 14. The vote is formal under paragraph (1)(b). However, only the squares numbered from 1 to 9 are counted for the purposes of sections 273 and 273A because the numbers 11 and upwards are disregarded under subparagraph (b)(ii) of this subsection.