Scrutineers

To scrutineer in a voting centre or a scrutiny centre, a scrutineer appointment form must be submitted and be signed by the candidate being represented. The form also requires the scrutineer to confirm (by signing) they will not attempt to influence voters or reveal confidential information about a voter’s choice.

• Scrutineer appointment form (PDF 305KB)

Forms must be submitted to the voting centre manager or scrutiny centre reception.

Scrutineers must wear the vest and ID tag provided while in a voting centre or scrutiny centre.

The scrutineer appointment form includes a code of conduct, a list of relevant electoral offences and information about scrutineer rights and responsibilities that all scrutineers must comply with.

Below is a brief summary of these requirements.

Scrutineers are permitted to:

• witness the sealing and unsealing of ballot boxes
• listen to the questions and instructions provided by voting centre staff when issuing votes
• object to the right of any person to vote
• assist any elector who requests it directly of the scrutineer
• challenge the placement or formality of a ballot paper during a count.

Scrutineers are not permitted to:

• wear t-shirts, emblems, badges or similar, that represents a candidate or party while in a voting centre or scrutiny centre
• photograph, film or use their phones while in a voting centre
• photograph, film or use their phones while at a count table, but are permitted to take a photo of a completed result slip (when advised) and use their phone to forward the results.
• offer assistance to electors
• influence how an elector votes
• reveal what they know about the vote of an elector
• handle ballot papers in any way
• interfere with the voting or counting process in any way.

Each candidate may appoint (at any time) one scrutineer per voting centre.

Scrutineers must hand in their appointment form to the voting centre manager prior to commencing, and wear the vest and ID tag provided while in the voting centre.

Scrutineers can interchange with other scrutineers (for the same candidate), as long as each has submitted a completed appointment form and only one scrutineer is inside the voting centre at a time.

The same person can scrutineer in multiple voting centres, but must complete a separate appointment for each venue. If a scrutineer is returning to a venue where they have already submitted a form, another form is not needed.

Each candidate may appoint one scrutineer per count table per scrutiny centre (for any count of the division the candidate is contesting).

Doors are locked at 6:00 pm for election night counts, so scrutineers should arrive 30 minutes prior to submit their forms and receive a briefing.

Scrutineers can observe all counts during the count period. They can object to the placement of ballot papers against a candidate, and can challenge the formality of ballot papers. The briefing provided prior to a count will include information about these processes.

Scrutiny opportunities during an election count period:

• Election night counts
• Fresh scrutiny (or ‘check’) counts
• Recounts
• Counts of absent votes
• Counts of admitted declaration and postal votes
• Rejected declaration and postal votes envelopes
• Distribution of preferences counts.

For more information:

• First preference count training video
• Two-candidate preferred (TCP) count training video.