It is up to the Electoral Commissioner to advise the Head of State to extend the date for the return of the writs for the 2022 General Elections.
The Commissioner can advise the Head of State to extend if, in his opinion, the Electoral Commission will not be in a position to return the majority of the writs by the date originally set for the return of the writs. The original date for the 2022 General Elections is the fifth anniversary of the date fixed for the return of writs in the 2017 General Elections.
Since the writs for the 2017 General Elections were fixed to return on 28 July 2017, the fifth anniversary of this date was today, 29 July 2022.
The Electoral Commissioner had formed the view that the Commission could not return the majority of the writs by today, hence the gazettal notice this afternoon to extend the date to 05 August 2022.
The key concern for the Electoral Commissioner is whether the Commission can return more than one half of the total seats in parliament by the date set for the return of writs. If in his opinion the Commission cannot return more than one half of the total seats, then it is up to the Commissioner to advise the Head of State to extend the date. If more than one half of the total seats are returned by the extended date, then parliament must be called within seven days from this extended date for its first meeting to resolve on, among others, the formation of government.
For the writs for specific electorates yet to be returned by the extended date, it is up to the Commissioner to allow time for the writs to be returned, unless the Commissioner declares that the elections in those electorates have failed. There is a 2019 Supreme Court decision on the above summary of the electoral process.