Snowdon v Dondas (No 2) [1996] HCA 27

Snowdon v Dondas (No 2) [1996] HCA 27

The wording and structure of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth), as applied to the Northern Territory, require that for a person to be entitled to be enrolled (and thus to vote), they must be enrolled for the District of the Division in which they currently reside. Electors who have moved Districts within the Northern Territory but have not transferred their enrolment are not entitled to be enrolled for the new District and their omission from the Roll is not due to officer error or mistake of fact. The DRO was not bound to be satisfied otherwise; the exclusion of the 1,594 provisional votes was therefore not erroneous under the Act.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Procedural Posture
Election Petition (court of Disputed Returns) / Reserved Question Before Full Court
Outcome
Reserved question answered; relief denied to petitioner.
Legal Topics
['enrolment for Voting' 'exclusion of Provisional Votes' 'electoral Rolls' 'interpretation of Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (cth)' 'right to Vote' 'judicial Review of Electoral Decisions']
['electoral Law' 'constitutional Law' 'administrative Law'] ['enrolment for Voting' 'exclusion of Provisional Votes' 'electoral Rolls' 'interpretation of Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (cth)' 'right to Vote' 'judicial Review of Electoral Decisions']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Election Petition (court of Disputed Returns) / Reserved Question Before Full Court

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the Divisional Returning Officer (DRO) was bound to be satisfied, under paragraph 12 of Schedule 3 to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth), that electors not on the Roll for a District but previously enrolled in another District of the Division (Northern Territory) were entitled to enrolment and their names omitted due to officer error or mistake of fact' 'Whether 1,594 provisional votes ought to have been included in the scrutiny']

Ratio Decidendi

The wording and structure of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth), as applied to the Northern Territory, require that for a person to be entitled to be enrolled (and thus to vote), they must be enrolled for the District of the Division in which they currently reside. Electors who have moved Districts within the Northern Territory but have not transferred their enrolment are not entitled to be enrolled for the new District and their omission from the Roll is not due to officer error or mistake of fact. The DRO was not bound to be satisfied otherwise; the exclusion of the 1,594 provisional votes was therefore not erroneous under the Act.

Court Disposition

Reserved question answered; relief denied to petitioner.

Orders

  • ['(1) No.' '(2) Does not fall to be answered.' "The petitioner pay the respondents' costs of the question reserved."]