Section 72A: Preservation of order

72A. Preservation of order (1) The senior presiding officer at a polling station shall— (a) keep order at the polling station; (b) subject to subsection (4), refuse admittance to the polling station to any person other than— (i) the Chairperson and members of the Commission; (ii) an election officer; (iii) a candidate; (iv) any polling agent; (v) a police officer on duty; and (vi) any International Election Observer referred to in section 77; (c) take steps for the enforcement of section 65 (2) and, for that purpose, may cause any person who misbehaves within the precincts of the polling station or persists, after being warned, in disobeying the directions of the senior presiding officer or in [Issue 1] R20 – 32 Revised Laws of Mauritius c ontravening this section or section 65 (2), to be immediately removed from the polling station by a police officer or a directing clerk. (2) Every directing clerk shall assist the senior presiding officer in keeping order at his polling station and shall, for that purpose— (a) ensure that no person loiters within the precincts of the polling station; (b) direct electors within the precincts of the polling station to form queues for the purpose of gaining access to the voting room allotted to them; and (c) assist any elector, at his request, in identifying his name in the part of the register of electors entitled to vote at the polling station. (3) Any person removed from a polling station under subsection (1) shall not, without the permission of the senior presiding officer, re-enter the polling station on that same day and may, if charged with an offence committed at a polling station, be taken into custody by a police officer. (4) The powers conferred by subsection (1) (b) and (c) shall not be exercised so as to prevent an elector who is entitled to vote at a polling station from having an opportunity of voting at that polling station. (5) The Commissioner of Police shall, in consultation with the Electoral Commissioner, take such measures as may be necessary for the preservation of order and preventing the assembly of a crowd on polling day within the precincts of a polling station and in any place whether public or private within a radius of 200 metres. [S. 72A amended by s. 4 of Act 6 of 2005 w.e.f. 8 April 2005.]