Thank you for assisting with Australia's electoral process by acting as a scrutineer. You are doing an extremely important job in ensuring that Australia's proud democratic tradition of transparent elections is maintained. Transparency and integrity in the conduct of elections have, after all, been the hallmarks of Australia's federal electoral system.
As a scrutineer, you need a clear understanding of your role, including what you can and cannot do under the law. This handbook is designed to help you, before, during and after election day, to be as effective as possible as a scrutineer. Remember, you can play a signifcant part in helping to ensure, as far as possible, that every vote cast in an election counts.