Guidelines for media coverage in Mayo polling places
Any member of the media (including camera crews and photographers) wanting to take footage of voting or counting at a polling place (including an early voting centre or accompanying a mobile polling team) must obtain the prior permission of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
The AEC’s permission must be sought by contacting Paul Langtry (contact details below). He will discuss your requirements, including if there is a particular division or polling place that you wish to cover.
To ensure the efficient conduct of both the voting and counting (scrutiny), permission granted by the AEC is conditional on the media complying with the following rules at the polling place.
- The operation of the polling place must be allowed to continue without disruption or any inconvenience to electors or polling officials.
- At all times, the media (including any accompanying film crew) will be under the direction of the Officer in Charge of the particular polling place. On arrival the media are asked to announce their arrival to the Officer in Charge and to reconfirm their requirements.
- Any filming of electors voting must ensure that the actual vote of any elector is not able to be identified.
- The media must not touch any ballot papers or interfere with the operation of the voting or the count. Particular scenes or results cannot be ‘recreated’ for better effect. Ballot papers and other AEC materials must not be removed from the polling place.
- The rights of electors and other members of the public in the polling place who do not want to be filmed must be respected.
- The rights of scrutineers (candidate representatives) who will want to observe the count closely, must be respected. As they stand behind polling officials to observe the count, they may not want to move so that a better shot of the scrutiny can be obtained.
- The media may film aspects of the voting (i.e. before 6pm) and the scrutiny (i.e. after 6pm).
Please note, if the above rules are not complied with, the Officer in Charge will ask the media to leave the polling place.
Contact:
Paul Langtry
Public Awareness Officer S.A.
Ph: 08 8237 6582
Mob: 0413 452 532
