The first, and certainly one of the most important activities to take place after a General Election is called the confirmation of electors in order to compile a list of eligible electors within each electoral district. The start of the confirmation period must commence within 48 hours of the date of the writ, and each pair of confirmation officers must complete their task seven days from the date of the issue of the writ. They are required to visit each residence up to two times in order to compile the List of Electors. These visits are usually made from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and during the evening from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
According to the Election Act, candidates play an important role in the confirmation process. The candidate for the government of the day (party in power) and the candidate for the leading party in the electoral district in the previous election (other than the government party) are required to provide a list of names of potential confirmation officers to the Returning Officer as soon as possible after the issue of the writ. If the parties do not fulfil this obligation, the Returning Officer must find a sufficient number of people willing to act. This causes serious delay and frustration for all the political parties who rely on this preliminary list of electors to begin their canvassing of electors in the district and should be avoided.
If a candidate is unable to supply a complete list of potential workers before the deadline, (48 hours before enumeration starts) it is beneficial to notify the Returning Officer in writing so that the Returning Officer may make the additional appointments necessary so that every polling division has two confirmation officers trained and prepared to start work the day enumeration begins.
The confirmation officers' duties are as follows:
