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Self-Determination Referendum Rules 2005

LAWS OF TOKELAU

SELF-DETERMINATION REFERENDUM RULES 2005
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1. Name

These are the Self-Determination Referendum Rules 2005.

2. Purpose

These Rules make provision for the holding of a Referendum by Tokelau in the exercise of its right to self-determination.

3. Interpretation

In these Rules -

"Administration Officer" means the Director of Support Services or the officer designated under rule 4(4);

"distribute" means deliver by hand or send by mail or facsimile to the last known address of the addressee;

"Referendum" means voting on the question whether Tokelau should attain self-government in free-association with New Zealand on the conditions set out in the draft Treaty of Free Association;

"Referendum day" means the date set under rule 13;

"Registration day" means 1 November 2005 or such other date as may be fixed by the Commission;

"TALO" means the Tokelau Apia Liaison Office in Savalalo, Apia, Samoa;

"voting place" means the building designated under rule 13(2).

4. Referendum Commission

(1) For the purpose of organizing the Referendum and declaring its result there shall be a Referendum Commission consisting of the Faipule and two village representatives appointed to the Commission by each village.

(2) The Commission shall -

(i) supervise the compiling of the national roll of votes for the Referendum,

(ii) determine any appeals on voter registration,

(iii) monitor due compliance with these Rules during the preparation and holding of the Referendum,

(iv) issue instructions for the conduct of voting,

(v) confirm and announce the results of the Referendum, and

(vi) do all they consider necessary or appropriate for the proper conduct of the Referendum.

(3) The Director of Support Services in consultation with the General Manager (Apia) will provide the necessary administrative support to facilitate the work of the Commission under paragraph (2).

(4) The Commission shall in consultation with the General Manager (Apia) and the Taupulega Office designate an Administration Officer who shall be responsible for the management of the voting place in each village and instruct officers appointed under Rule 5.

(5) Any communication to the Commission shall be directed to the General Manager (Apia).

5. Appointment of officers

(1) The Director of Support Services shall appoint or designate such public officers as may be necessary, for the due administration of these Rules.

(2) A written notice of the appointment, including the officer's name, position or title, office address, and telephone number shall be provided to the villages and TALO concurrently with the appointment.

(3) Officers appointed or designated under this rule shall, if deployed on Referendum day, be directly responsible to the Administration Officer of the voting place where they are.

6. Publicity

(1) Information on self-determination shall be published in pamphlets and distributed to each household, and to all members of the Tokelau Public Service.

(2) This information must be distributed as early as possible.

(3) The Director of Support Services will ensure that all Referendum information is on the official website for the Tokelau Council of Ongoing Government at www.tokelau.org.nz.

7. Register of voters

(1) There shall be a national roll consisting of a voters' register for each village.

(2) The village voters' register shall be compiled and maintained by the Office of the Taupulega.

8. Voter qualification

(1) A person is qualified to be a voter if, on the date of application for registration under these Rules, that person -

(i) is at least 18 years of age; and

(ii) is of sound mind; and

(ii) has satisfied at least one criteria in paragraph 2.

(2) The criteria for paragraph 1 are -

(i) entitled to reside indefinitely in Tokelau and has, since 1 October 2004, been resident in Tokelau for at least three months;

(ii) permanent residence in Tokelau for not less than 5 years, before the date of application of registration;

(iii) permanent residence and is studying outside Tokelau;

(iv) a Tokelauan employed in the Tokelau Public Service.

9. Procedure of registration

(1) To be registered as a voter, a qualified person must apply to the Office of the Taupulega of the village of ordinary residence or to TALO on or before registration day, in the form in Schedule 1.

(2) The application shall, if requested by the Registration Officer, be presented with a document of verification such as a valid passport or birth certificate.

10. Registration list published

(1) The lists of voters registered for each village must be posted in public places in each village and at TALO within 10 days from registration day.

(2) A copy of each village voters' register shall be sent to the Commission, TALO and the Offices of the Taupulega.

(3) After the hearing of any appeals under rule 11 the lists will be confirmed by the Commission and publicly notified.

11. Registration appeals

(1) Any person who has applied to be registered under these Rules whose application has been refused, or whose name has been omitted or removed from the list of registered voters may challenge the refusal, omission, or removal.

(2) Any challenge under paragraph (1) must be made in writing to the Commission no later than 5 days after the publication of the list, if that person wishes.

(3) On receipt of an application for review under paragraph (2) the Commission shall -

(i) consider the matter promptly; and

(ii) advise its decision to the applicant and to the appropriate Office of the Taupulega.

(4) The decision of the Commission on any challenge under this rule shall be final.

(5) The Office of the Taupulega under paragraph (3) shall amend the Register as may be necessary and advise TALO and all Offices of Taupulega of the Commission's decision.

12. Voting information

(1) Each Office of Taupulega and TALO shall inform registered voters about the Referendum at the earliest possible date and no later than 10 days before Referendum day, in a way usual in the villages and in TALO.

(2) The information shall include -

(i) the date, time and place of holding the Referendum;

(ii) explanation of the procedures of the Referendum; and

(iii) the question voters will be asked to vote on.

(3) The Director of Support Services is responsible for distribution of the Referendum information to registered voters in the national public service and Directors of the Departments of Health and Education, to the registered voters qualified under rule 8 for whom they are responsible.

13. Voting places

(1) There will be 4 voting places for the Referendum- one in each village of Tokelau and one at TALO.

(2) The Administration Officer shall, in consultation with the Taupulega and the General Manager (Apia), designate a building to be the voting place for the purposes of the Referendum.

(3) The Referendum shall be held in Tokelau and at TALO on the same day or at such date publicly notified by the Commission.

(4) The voting places will be open from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. on Referendum day.

(5) No one may vote after the closing time of the voting places, except voters who are waiting to vote at the time of closing.

(6) The Administration Officer responsible for the voting place shall ensure that the voting area is closed from the public and that proper facilities are made available for voters to vote without any outside influence.

(7) The Administration Officer is responsible for the conduct of the voting in the voting place.

(8) The Administration Officer responsible for the voting place shall ensure that the voting box is secure until the counting of the voting papers commences.

14. Preparation of the voting places

(1) The Administration Officer shall one hour prior to the opening of the voting -

(i) arrange the tables, chairs and voting booths in such a manner as to ensure the secrecy of the voting and the free and rapid movement of voters;

(ii) remove any propaganda material that may be found within the voting place;

(iii) check all materials received against the list provided in advance by the Commission;

(iv) post instructions for voting at suitable and visible places within the voting place;

(v) put in place other materials as required by the Commission;

(vi) show observers the empty voting boxes and then close them;

(vii) seal the voting box;

(viii) place signs that make it clear to the voter where the completed voting papers should be put.

(2) After performing the duties in paragraph (1), but not before 8 am, the Administration Officer shall declare in English and Tokelauan the voting open.

(3) The Administration Officer shall not leave the voting place unless his powers under these Rules have been passed to another officer in his team until his return.

15 Voting

(1) (i) A registered voter who wishes to vote must be present at a polling station on Referendum day, unless the voter is in a village but physically unable to attend at the voting place on Referendum day.

(ii) A physically incapacitated person under sub-paragraph (i) may vote in the manner approved by the Commission.

(2) After the voter enters the voting place the voter shall state his or her name to Administration Officer and, if required, present an official identity document such as -

(i) passport;

(ii) or Tokelau identity card.

(3) Details will be checked against the list of registered voters before a voting paper is provided to a registered voter at a voting place.

(4) The voting paper will be printed in English and Tokelauan and have a serial number on both the paper and the counterfoil.

(5) The voting paper must include -

(i) guidance on how to vote; and

(ii) the question to be voted on.

(6) A registered voter must vote in person and each person shall have only one vote.

(7) If a voter spoils his/her voting paper, he/she may be issued another voting paper.

(8) The right to vote shall be exercised by marking the chosen statement in the box in the form in Schedule 2, and then personally placing the voting paper in the voting box.

(9) The vote is secret.

16. Vote closed

(1) At the close of the voting the Administration Officer shall announce in Tokelau and in English that voting is closed.

(2) The Administration Officer shall then record in writing the number of voters who voted at that voting place, and the total number of unused and spoiled voting papers and their serial numbers.

(3) The Administration Officer shall then publicly announce that the votes will be counted.

17. Counting procedure

(1) The counting of votes shall be public and conducted at such place as the Commission designates.

(2) The voting box shall be opened by an authorised officer in the presence of observers and members of the Commission.

(3) The authorised official shall retrieve the votes and minutes of voting from the Administration Officer of the voting place and verify that the number of votes tallies with the data in the minutes.

(4) If there are excess votes, the officer, without looking at the votes, shall publicly draw out at random votes equal to the excess and without looking at the contents, place them in an envelope which shall be marked "excess votes".

(5) The envelope marked "excess votes" shall be sealed and signed by the authorised official and placed in the box for void votes.

(6) All votes in the box for void votes shall be determined by the Commission under Rule 19.

(7) The votes shall be counted by the officials authorised by the Commission. The authorised officials shall continue to count the voting papers, without interruption until all the votes are counted.

(8) The authorised officials and observers shall remain at the counting place until all the votes are counted and all reports are properly made.

(9) After the votes have been counted, the authorized official by the Commission shall, in the presence of the observers print copies of the vote results. The printed results shall be signed by the Administration Officer.

(10) After the printing of the vote results, the votes shall be returned to the voting box, which shall be locked, sealed and delivered to the Pulenuku for safekeeping until such time as requested by the Commission.

18. Communication of votes to the Commission

The Chairman of the Taupulega or the Director of Support Services in TALO shall advise the Commissioner of the vote results as follows -

(i) how many voters have voted;

(ii) how many voting papers were rejected;

(iii) how many voting papers were valid;

(iv) in terms of the valid papers; how many voted in the affirmative; and how many voted in the negative.

19. Void votes

(1) The right to vote may not be exercised in any way other than on a voting paper.

(2) The voting paper is void if -

(i) it is torn in two or more parts; or

(ii) it is marked in any other way than stipulated by rule 15(8) or

(iii) it is not marked at all.

(3) The Commission alone shall decide whether the voting was conducted properly and whether the voting paper is valid.

20. Special vote

(1) Any registered voter who will not be in Tokelau or Samoa on Referendum day may apply to the Director of Support Services to vote in advance of Referendum day.

(2) Such application for leave to vote in advance shall be made at any time during normal office hours, no later than the 7 days immediately preceding Referendum day.

(3) If the Director of Support Services is satisfied that the application is made in good faith, the applicant shall be given -

(i) a voting paper, and

(ii) an envelope marked "Vote in Advance of Poll" addressed to the Director of Support Services.

(4) The special voter on completion of the vote, shall place the voting paper in the marked envelope, and deliver the marked envelope to the Director of Support Services who shall -

(i) make a record of the vote and provide a receipt evidencing the delivery of the envelope, and

(ii) include the vote in the counting at the close of voting.

21. The right to appoint observers.

(1) Tokelau and foreign non-governmental organisations, as well as international organisations specialised or engaged in the area of protection of human rights, representatives of foreign countries and of the media may be accredited as observers to the Referendum by the Commission.

(2) The accreditation of the observers to the Referendum is made on the basis of individual data for each observer.

(3) Accreditation shall be granted, taking into account the purpose of the observer and the personal credentials of the applicant and such other matters as the Commission thinks relevant.

(4) There shall be no more than 5 observers accredited for a voting place.

(5) Requests to be observers must be submitted to the commission in writing no later than 1 month before the Referendum date.

(6) While performing their duties, observers have the right to observe without hindrance all aspects of the preparation and conduct of elections and to look at or examine the documentation or materials of the electoral process.

(7) The observers must -

(i) respect the requirements of these Rules and the instructions of the Commission;

(ii) act in an impartial manner;

(iii) not bear distinctive signs that might influence voters;

(iv) not violate the right of the voter to a secret vote nor hamper the process of voting and the administration of the Referendum.

22. Result of Referendum

(1) Tokelau will be declared to have self-determined in accordance with the United Nations requirements if and only if -

(i) the affirmative votes cast by all voters in the Referendum is more than a 2/3 majority of the valid votes, and

(ii) the Commission is satisfied that the Referendum was conducted in accordance with these Rules or that any irregularity, failure or mistake did not materially affect the result of the Referendum.

(2) The Commission shall give public notice of the result of the Referendum-

(i) as soon as they are satisfied as required in paragraph (1), and

(ii) no later than 24 hours after the close of counting of the votes.

(3) The result of the Referendum as declared by the Commission under this Rule is final and shall not be disputed or declared invalid by reason of any irregularity, failure or mistake of any nature whatsoever.

23. Offences

(1) Any person who provides any false or misleading information for the purposes of registration under these Rules commits an offence.

(2) Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with these Rules commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not more than 3 penalty units.

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SCHEDULE 1

OFFICE OF THE TAUPULEGA OF (ATAFU, NUKUNONU, FAKAOFO)

rule 9(1)

REFERENDUM

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SCHEDULE 2

Voting paper
rule 15(8)

The Proposal: That Tokelau become a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand on the basis of the Constitution and as in the draft Treaty notified to Tokelau on [insert date]

Choose the statement that represents your opinion and then mark the box beside the statement.

Mark one box only

If both boxes are marked the vote will not be counted.

If you mark the wrong box, return to the registration desk and request a fresh voting paper.

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