Voters have the right to launch a petition after an election or referendum if they are dissatisfied with the result or the conduct of the election or referendum.
Under the ELECTORAL ACT 1993 an election petition may be presented to the High Court by any person (or group of people) who comes within one of the following categories:
The member of Parliament whose election or return you are challenging is the respondent to the petition.
The petition must be presented to the High Court nearest to the place of the election in the correct form, within 28 days after the day on which the returning officer publicly notified the result of the poll. The Court Registrar must send a copy to the returning officer involved.
When there is more than one petition relating to the same election, they are all dealt with as one petition.
You will need to pay security for costs of $1,000 with your petition or within three days after the time limit for presenting the petition has expired (that is, within 31 days after the result was notified). The court will not proceed with your petition until this is paid.
Under the CITIZENS INITIATED REFERERENDA ACT 1993, a petition for inquiry into an indicative referendum can be launched by any 50 electors in an electoral district who are dissatisfied with the result of the referendum in their district.
Any six electors in the electoral district may file a notice in the court that they intend to oppose the petition. The notice may be filed at any time up to three days before the inquiry begins. Those electors then become the respondents to the petition.