Polling hasn’t even begun, and booth bans are already in place!

It has been reported to Pelican that there have been two offenders from STAR, which has resulted in three Booth bans placed upon them (as the presidential candidate must account for the actions of the offenders within their party).

Two candidates have been banned all day from the election polling booths for the entirety of Monday, and one of these and another supporter have an additional ban from 10-12 on Tuesday.

Why has this happened?

Candidates receive ‘booth bans’ if there is any misconduct or breach of regulations. If this occurs, Mary Petrou (the Returning Officer) can ban them from campaigning for a period of time at her discretion. The ban applies to both the candidate who has breached regulations and the Presidential candidate – with Mary even having the power to ban a whole ticket (if required)!

You can read more about what is considered misconduct and the regulations here.