All Party members who are financial as at 31 December 2017 are eligible to vote. For the purposes of this Guideline:

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "All Party members who are financial as at 31 December 2017 are eligible to vote. For the purposes of this Guideline:"

Transcription

1 NATIONAL EXECUTIVE GUIDELINES FOR THE ELECTION OF THE NATIONAL PRESIDENT AND TWO VICE-PRESIDENTS The following is a consolidated list of guidelines for the 2018 ballot for National President and two National Vice-Presidents: 1. The Election There will be a ballot conducted by the National Returning Officer (NRO) from a central balloting location. The ballot shall be conducted using both online and postal methods. The normal conventions in relation to scrutineers shall apply. 2. Eligibility All Party members who are financial as at 31 December 2017 are eligible to vote. For the purposes of this Guideline: a. Life members and others who are not required to pay annual dues are deemed to be financial. b. Victorian Central Branch members are taken to be Party members. c. NSW Branch members who were financial as at 30 November 2017 are deemed to remain financial until 31 December Method The ballot shall be conducted as a hybrid of both online and postal methods, with all votes being counted in a single ballot and each vote cast having an equal weight. Eligibility for each method of voting shall be as follows: a. Members aged under 66 as at 31 December 2017 residing in electorates classified as metropolitan or provincial by the Australian Electoral Commission who have provided a current address to their State Branch shall be enfranchised to vote online and added to the online voters roll. All other members shall be enfranchised to vote by mail and added to the postal voters roll. b. Subject to these rules, any member who personally requests to vote by mail will be entitled to do so and vice versa for the online ballot. Any member wishing to exercise this right must contact the NRO through the National Secretariat to request this. The ability of the NRO to

2 grant such requests will be dependent on the ability of the members State Branch to verify the applicant s membership details and for practical reasons, the timeliness of the request. 4. Postal Voting Integrity To ensure the integrity of the postal component of the ballot: a. All eligible postal voters will be posted a ballot paper in a reply paid envelope. b. Members voting by post will be required to sign a declaration when returning the ballot. This will mirror the process used by the Australian Electoral Commission in the conduct of many union elections. c. If a returned ballot envelope is challenged, the NRO will request a copy of a signature from the member s application or renewal form. This will be provided by the State or Territory Secretary. If a signature is not available (due to the unavailability of older records) the NRO will ask the member to provide a sample signature (such as that provided on a driver s licence). d. There will also be additional random checks of signatures against membership application and renewal forms by the NRO. e. Should any member, through administrative error, omission or otherwise, cast a ballot online and by mail, the online vote will be counted and the mailed ballot will be discarded. 5. Online Voting Integrity To ensure the integrity of the online component of the ballot: a. An online voter will be ed at their nominated address a unique link to a secure website where they can cast their vote. b. The voter will be required to input their surname and member number on the secure page. c. The voter will only be given access to the online ballot paper if there is a complete match between the unique link, surname and member number. d. Where multiple voters eligible to vote online share an address, only one member may be entitled to vote by this method. This shall be determined by alphabetical order of surname and first name (in that order). The first member determined by this method will be entitled to vote online and any other members will be entitled to vote by mail. 6. The Voters Roll a. All State branches will forward membership details in accordance with the timetable that follows. For the purposes of preparing an accurate voters roll, State branches will be

3 required to provide an initial list of eligible members (in accordance with National Principle of Organisation 35q). This will include addresses for eligible online electors in accordance with these Guidelines and will be consolidated into a single national draft roll. At the closing of nominations, each State branch shall provide any updates to the voters roll. b. The State branches through their normal credentialing and disputes processes will resolve disputes over voter eligibility prior to the determination of the final voters roll. State Secretaries will inform the NRO of any additions, deletions or amendments to voters contact details after that date and the NRO will endeavour to accommodate these requests as practical. c. For reasons of privacy, and to curtail campaigning by candidates, the roll of voters will not be released during the election period or prior. Scrutineers will be able to inspect (at the central balloting location) at any time during the ballot, a hard copy for the purposes of scrutinising the ballot. At the conclusion of the ballot, a marked list of voters shall also be available for inspection. 7. The Ballot Paper and Candidate Eligibility a. In order to ensure candidates have broad support and prevent an unwieldy ballot paper, nominations must be counter-signed by financial members in a majority of State and Territory branches (i.e. 5 out of 8). A candidate will need 10 signatures from each of these States or Territories (i.e. a total of at least 50 signatures). b. Candidates must hold at least 2 years continuous financial membership as at the close of nominations. 8. The Ballot Pack Voters eligible to receive a ballot paper, will be sent a publication which contains (in an order determined by lot) statements of up to 500 words from each candidate. The statements will include a photo of the candidate (where submitted). These statements will also be available on the ALP website. Voters eligible to vote online will have access to the same candidate statements through the online voting portal. 9. Campaigning is Prohibited a. Candidates when nominating will agree not to expend resources on mailouts, paid advertising or telephone canvassing. Candidates will also be reminded that it is unlawful to use the resources of public office holders (notably MPs and Senators) for the purposes of campaigning for internal Party positions. b. The National Executive prohibits:

4 i. mail-outs of campaign material; ii. iii. iv. paid advertisements placed in print, TV, radio, the internet; automated or call centre based telephone canvassing; campaigning in the media (including media interviews, articles, press conferences and statements, whether unsolicited or not); and v. Party or union resources being used for campaigning. c. Guideline 9 applies to all Party members and affiliated unions from 29 December 2017 until the close of voting. It will be notified to all voters in the message from the National Secretariat accompanying the candidates statements. d. Guideline 9 does not prevent candidates from making media statements or answering media enquiries in relation to their parliamentary or other responsibilities, nor from speaking about issues other than the election at public or Party forums that may receive media coverage, provided candidates do not make any comment in relation to the election. e. Guideline 9 does not prohibit the use of s for campaigning, provided Party, union or paid resources, or those of public office holders are not used. Resources include equipment, staff time and data. f. Guideline 9 does not prohibit Party, union or MP resources being used to information about the election to voters, provided this cannot be seen as campaigning. The ing of information about the election by constituent units, unions or MPs will not be viewed as campaigning if all candidates are treated equally and, in particular, are given the same, reasonable opportunity to submit any supporting material that is circulated. g. enforcement of Guideline 9 shall be the responsibility of the NRO and penalties may include disqualification of a candidate. The National Appeals Tribunal will hear appeals against any ruling of the NRO. h. the document containing the candidates statements will be prefaced with a message from the National Secretary explaining the system and further discouraging campaigning. The same information will be provided to electors voting via the online method. 10. The Scrutiny Scrutineers will be allowed to have pens and pencils, provided they don t have them anywhere near ballot papers. 11. The Timeline

5 The timeline and key milestones for the conduct and operation of the election will be as follows. Event South Australia and Tasmania ALP branches to provide list of eligible voters and contact details Date Friday 29 December All other state branches to provide list of eligible voters and contact details Friday 16 March All states to provide updates to eligible voters roll Thursday 29 March Opening of nominations Thursday 29 March Final voters roll declared Nominations close Voting opens, ballot papers and candidate statements issued Voting closes, last day for ballot papers to be returned National President takes office at the start of National Conference. Friday 13 April Friday 13 April Friday 4 May Friday 15 June Thursday 26 July