THE Supervisor of Elections should recuse themselves from a decision where a conflict of interest arises, rather than step down from office, the Centre for Democracy and Dialogue (CDD) says.
CDD chief executive officer Nilesh Lal made the comments in relation to Clause 4 of the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2026, which deals with conflicts of interest under Section 13 of the Electoral Act 2014.
“The Bill proposes that a person would step down from his or her office for the purpose of the decision,” Mr Lal said.
Mr Lal said this could effectively create a vacancy in the office of the Supervisor of Elections, which would be particularly problematic during an election period after the writ of elections had been issued.
He said the provision should instead require recusal from the particular decision.
CDD also strongly supported Clause 3, which proposes repealing sections 1B and 1C that allow the supervisor to compel information despite laws relating to confidentiality, privilege or secrecy.
Mr Lal described these powers as “dangerous”, saying they could allow the supervisor to override privacy laws and compel the seizure of private information, devices and documents.
He said CDD also recommended reviewing Section 6(1A) to ensure the remaining information-gathering power could not recreate the powers being removed.
