direction from electoral commsioner – pat vidgen
The Electoral Commissioner hereby directs:
• All persons are prohibited from canvassing for votes or distributing how-to- vote cards or election material at a polling booth. This applies to ALL polling booths in Queensland;
• All persons must abide by the social distancing rules for gatherings of less than 100 people;
• All persons attending a polling booth must maintain hygiene standards, in accordance with Queensland Health guidelines;
• All persons must not shake hands, or attempt to shake hands, with electors as they are entering or waiting to enter the polling booth;
• If candidates, political parties, or other electoral participants wish for their how-to-vote cards and/or election material to be available to electors, the material must be provided to the booth supervisor. The material will be displayed at the polling booth, in a way deemed appropriate by the booth supervisor. A minimum requirement is that how-to-vote cards and election material must be displayed in ballot paper order, as far as practicable. Candidates, political parties or other electoral participants must not interfere or obstruct the booth supervisor or other ECQ staff enacting this direction;
• Candidates, political parties or other electoral participants must not interfere or remove how-to-vote cards or election material once they are displayed by the booth supervisor or other ECQ staff.
ECQ staff will be actively monitoring compliance with this Direction. The Electoral Commissioner has the power to issue further directions, in the event ECQ staff observe non-compliance.
Failure to comply with this Direction carries a maximum penalty of 10 penalty units, currently valued at $1,334.50.
All existing laws and regulations regarding canvassing for votes at a polling booth continue to apply, including those relating to exclusion zones.
Effective
This Direction has immediate effect and remains in place until close of polls on 28 March 2020, unless otherwise revised.