❓ Hon Bruce Donaldson asks about the validity of ticks and crosses on ballot papers for the daylight saving referendum. Hon Norman Moore clarifies that a tick will be accepted as a yes vote, but a cross will be considered invalid due to ambiguity, despite the legal requirement to write 'yes' or 'no'.
AnsweredQoN 460Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
DAYLIGHT SAVING REFERENDUM
Is it correct that a tick on a ballot paper for Saturday’s daylight saving referendum will be accepted as a yes vote and that a cross will mean an invalid vote? Hon NORMAN MOORE
Is it correct that a tick on a ballot paper for Saturday’s daylight saving referendum will be accepted as a yes vote and that a cross will mean an invalid vote? Hon NORMAN MOORE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question. This has been an issue that has aroused some interest today. It is a fact that if people put a tick as opposed to writing yes, it will be a valid vote. If they put a cross, it will be an invalid vote. Let me explain very quickly. The Referendums Act 1983 and the Daylight Saving Act 2006 require that a voter write yes or no in the box that is placed underneath the question. I would have thought that was pretty simple really. However, section 24(2) of the Referendums Act provides that is not an absolute requirement and that, indeed, if the intent of the voter is clear, some other form of answering the question will be valid. It is accepted that a tick demonstrates that the person is taking a positive position and saying yes, whereas a cross is ambiguous in the sense that it could mean yes or no, depending on the way in which the person is thinking at the time, and one would not know. A range of different options are available to voters. Provided the intent is obvious their ballot paper will be valid. My advice to voters is to write yes or no. If that is beyond someone’s capacity, I would have thought the person should not be a voter.
Hon NORMAN MOORE replied: I thank the member for the question. This has been an issue that has aroused some interest today. It is a fact that if people put a tick as opposed to writing yes, it will be a valid vote. If they put a cross, it will be an invalid vote. Let me explain very quickly. The Referendums Act 1983 and the Daylight Saving Act 2006 require that a voter write yes or no in the box that is placed underneath the question. I would have thought that was pretty simple really. However, section 24(2) of the Referendums Act provides that is not an absolute requirement and that, indeed, if the intent of the voter is clear, some other form of answering the question will be valid. It is accepted that a tick demonstrates that the person is taking a positive position and saying yes, whereas a cross is ambiguous in the sense that it could mean yes or no, depending on the way in which the person is thinking at the time, and one would not know. A range of different options are available to voters. Provided the intent is obvious their ballot paper will be valid. My advice to voters is to write yes or no. If that is beyond someone’s capacity, I would have thought the person should not be a voter.
I thank the member for the question. This has been an issue that has aroused some interest today. It is a fact that if people put a tick as opposed to writing yes, it will be a valid vote. If they put a cross, it will be an invalid vote. Let me explain very quickly. The Referendums Act 1983 and the Daylight Saving Act 2006 require that a voter write yes or no in the box that is placed underneath the question. I would have thought that was pretty simple really. However, section 24(2) of the Referendums Act provides that is not an absolute requirement and that, indeed, if the intent of the voter is clear, some other form of answering the question will be valid. It is accepted that a tick demonstrates that the person is taking a positive position and saying yes, whereas a cross is ambiguous in the sense that it could mean yes or no, depending on the way in which the person is thinking at the time, and one would not know. A range of different options are available to voters. Provided the intent is obvious their ballot paper will be valid. My advice to voters is to write yes or no. If that is beyond someone’s capacity, I would have thought the person should not be a voter.
Hon NORMAN MOORE replied: I thank the member for the question. This has been an issue that has aroused some interest today. It is a fact that if people put a tick as opposed to writing yes, it will be a valid vote. If they put a cross, it will be an invalid vote. Let me explain very quickly. The Referendums Act 1983 and the Daylight Saving Act 2006 require that a voter write yes or no in the box that is placed underneath the question. I would have thought that was pretty simple really. However, section 24(2) of the Referendums Act provides that is not an absolute requirement and that, indeed, if the intent of the voter is clear, some other form of answering the question will be valid. It is accepted that a tick demonstrates that the person is taking a positive position and saying yes, whereas a cross is ambiguous in the sense that it could mean yes or no, depending on the way in which the person is thinking at the time, and one would not know. A range of different options are available to voters. Provided the intent is obvious their ballot paper will be valid. My advice to voters is to write yes or no. If that is beyond someone’s capacity, I would have thought the person should not be a voter.
I thank the member for the question. This has been an issue that has aroused some interest today. It is a fact that if people put a tick as opposed to writing yes, it will be a valid vote. If they put a cross, it will be an invalid vote. Let me explain very quickly. The Referendums Act 1983 and the Daylight Saving Act 2006 require that a voter write yes or no in the box that is placed underneath the question. I would have thought that was pretty simple really. However, section 24(2) of the Referendums Act provides that is not an absolute requirement and that, indeed, if the intent of the voter is clear, some other form of answering the question will be valid. It is accepted that a tick demonstrates that the person is taking a positive position and saying yes, whereas a cross is ambiguous in the sense that it could mean yes or no, depending on the way in which the person is thinking at the time, and one would not know. A range of different options are available to voters. Provided the intent is obvious their ballot paper will be valid. My advice to voters is to write yes or no. If that is beyond someone’s capacity, I would have thought the person should not be a voter.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.