The death of a candidate before polling means the election wholly fails, according to the Electoral Act.
It means no voting for the seat will take place on March 13. However, people in the seat still have to go to the polls to elect senators.
The election for the House of Representatives seat works much like a by-election, except the Prime Minister does not get a say in the timing. The Electoral Act provides that “”a new writ shall forthwith be issued” for a supplementary election.
So the matter is in the hands of the Electoral Commissioner, who according to Act, must call for nominations not less than 11 days nor greater than 28 days after the writ. And the election must be not less than 22 days nor greater than 30 days after the close of nominations. The election must be on a Saturday.
Therefore the soonest the election can be held is April 10 and the latest is April 24. April 17 would be the obvious date.
Obviously new nominations are permitted. If a major-party candidate, for example, died, the party would want to put up a new candidate. The Electoral Act treats all candidates alike, so even if a minor party or way-out independent dies after nominations and before polling, new nominations must be called.
The 11-day minimum gap before nominations is unfortunate. It means that nominations will still be open for at least a day after the main election. In the event of an election cliff-hanger, in which that seat might be critical, all sorts of loons might nominate just to be in the limelight.