General Right to Vote
Constitution:
(1980)
• Section 51 states: "Subject to such disqualifications as Parliament may prescribe, a person shall be qualified to vote at an election of member to serve in the House of Representatives if, and shall not be qualified to vote at such an election unless, he (a) is a Commonwealth citizen (within the meaning of section 18) of the age of eighteen years or upwards; and (b) has such other qualifications regarding residence or registration as may be prescribed."

Exclusion Based on Mental Disability
Constitution:
(1980)
• Section 42, subsection (1) states: "No person shall be qualified to be appointed as a Senator who…(d) is mentally ill, within the meaning of the Mental Health Act, 1975."
• Section 48, subsection (1) states: "No person shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the House of Representatives who…(c) is mentally ill, within the meaning of the Mental Health Act, 1975."
Electoral Law:
(1990: Representation of the People)
• Section 15, subsection (1) states: "No person is qualified to be or to remain registered as an elector who…(a) is mentally ill, within the meaning of the Mental Health Act."

Voter Assistance By Other Citizens
Electoral Law:
(1990: Representation of the People)
• Rule 15, subrule (5) states: "If a person referred to in subrule (4) has no finger on either hand, the registration record card and the identification card of the person shall be signed for and on behalf of the person by a friend of his choice in the presence of the Assistant Registration Officer.
• Rule 48 states: "Subject to rules 38 to 46, the Presiding Officer, on the application of an elector who is physically incapacitated by blindness from voting in the manner directed by these Rules, shall require the elector to make oath in the form set out as Form No. 58 or 59 in the Prescribed Forms Rules, as the case may be, and on the elector making such oath the Presiding Officer shall, in the presence of the elector, the poll clerk and any other polling agent who may be present, record the vote of the elector in the manner directed by him."
• Rule 49, subrule (1) states: "If an elector makes an application to the Presiding Officer to be allowed on the ground of physical incapacity other than blindness to vote with the assistance of another person by whom he is accompanied (in these Rules referred to as 'the companion'), the Presiding Officer shall require the elector to make oath in the form set out as Form No. 59 in the Prescribed Forms Rules."
• Rule 49, subrule (2) continues: "On the elector making such oath the Presiding Officer shall require the companion to make a declaration in the form set out as Form No. 60 in the Prescribed Forms Rules, that the companion is a qualified person within the meaning of this rule and has not previously assisted more than one physically incapacitated person to vote at the election."
• Rule 49, subrule (3) continues: "Upon the applicant and the companion complying with subrules (1) and (2), and subject to rules 38 to 47, the Presiding Officer shall grant the application, and thereupon anything which is by these Rules required to be done to or by the elector in connection with the giving of his vote may be done to, or with the assistance of, the companion."
• Rule 49, subrule (4) continues: "For the purpose of this rule, a person is qualified to assist a physically incapacitated person if that person is either (a) a person who is entitled to vote as an elector at the election, or (b) the father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, son or daughter of the physically incapacitated elector and has attained the age of eighteen years."
• Rule 49, subrule (1) concludes: "Nothing in this rule applies or shall be deemed to apply to a person who is physically incapacitated by reason of blindness."
Poll Worker Manuals:
Instruction Guide on the Election Process for Trainers: Produced by Elections and Boundaries Commission (1996)
• An elector who is incapacitated other than by blindness may be assisted by a companion.
• The elector must make an Affirmation and the companion must sign the Declaration Form p 9

Off-Site Voting Alternatives
Electoral Law:
(1990: Representation of the People)
• Rule 59 states: "An elector is eligible to be treated as a special elector if he is…(j) unable or likely to be unable to go in person to the polling station at which he is entitled to vote by reason of being (i) a patient in a public hospital, or in a private hospital approved by the Commission, or an inmate in a public institution…"
• Rule 83 discusses provisions for physically incapacitated special electors.

Indelible Ink Excusal
Electoral Law:
(1990: Representation of the People)
• Rule 15, subrule (4) states: "When a person who is being registered is unable to sign his name because of illiteracy or physical disability, he shall, subject to subrule (5), make an impression in ink on the original and the duplicate of his registration record card and on his identification card as follows: (a) with his right thumb; (b) with his left thumb, should he not have a right thumb; or (c) with any other finger, should he not have any thumb.