31 August 2004

The announcement of an election signals the start of the busy election period, with usually just over a month between the announcement and election day. The 2004 federal election is a six week campaign.

The timetable of key dates of the federal election is determined by the Constitution and the Commonwealth Electoral Act .

2004 Federal Election timetable of key dates

Announcement of Election	Sunday 29 August 2004
Issue of Writs	Tuesday 31 August 2004
Close of Rolls	8pm, Tuesday 7 September 2004
Close of Nominations	12noon, Thursday 16 September 2004
Declaration of Nominations	12noon, Friday 17 September 2004
Election Day	Saturday 9 October 2004
Return of Writs	Latest date for: Wednesday 8 December 2004

The key dates in an election period are :

Announcement of Election:The Prime Minister announces the dissolution of the House of Representatives and the intention to hold an election.

Issue of Writs:This is the official trigger for the AEC to conduct an election and writs must be issued within 10 days of the dissolution or expiry of the House of Representatives.

The Governor in each State (and the Governor-General for the Territories) issues a writ for the Senate election to the Australian Electoral Officer for that State or Territory.

The Governor-General issues eight writs for elections for the House of Representatives to the Electoral Commissioner. That is one writ for the elections in each State and Territory.

Close of Rolls:The rolls close at 8pm , 7 days after the issue of the writs, and eligible electors have until this date to ensure that they are correctly enrolled. Only those listed on the roll at the close of rolls will be able to vote in the election.

Close of Nominations:Candidates can nominate for election once the writs have been issued up until the close of nominations date. Nominations close at 12noon, between 10 and 27 days after the issue of the writs.

Declaration of Nominations:The nominations are publicly declared 24 hours after the close of nominations and are followed by a draw for ballot paper positions.

Election Day:This is the day that eligible electors can have their say by voting. Election day must be a Saturday and at least 33 days, but not more than 58 days, after the issue of the writs.

Return of Writs: The writs must be returned within 100 days of their issue.

Meeting of Parliament: The new Parliament must meet within 30 days of the date appointed for the return of the writs.

Election timetable according to the Constitution and Commonwealth Electoral Act

Expiry or dissolution of House of Representatives	Minimum No. of days	Maximum No. of Days
Issue of Writs Writs are issued within 10 days of dissolution of the House of Representatives (Constitution s.12, 32) ( s .151 of the Act)	0 days	10 days
Close of rolls Rolls close at 8pm , 7 days after issue of writs (s.155 of the Act)	7 days	17 days
Close of nominations Nominations close at 12 noon , between 10 & 27 days after issue of writs (s.156 of the Act)	10 days	37 days
Declaration of nominations Declaration of nominations is 24 hours after close of nominations (s.176 of the Act)	11 days	38 days
Election day Election day is fixed between 23 & 31 days after close of nominations (s.157 of the Act)	33 days	68 days
Return of writs Writs must be returned within 100 days of their issue (s.159 of the Act)		110 days
Meeting of Parliament New Parliament meets within 30 days of the day appointed for the return of the writs (s.5 of the Constitution)		140 days

Note: The House of Representatives expires three years after its first meeting but can be dissolved earlier (s.28 of the Constitution). Senators for the States serve terms of six years which are staggered so that half of the 72 Senators retire every three years. The terms of Senators for the Territories coincide with those of the members of the House of Representatives.