Re PEARSON and OTHERS; Ex parte SIPKA (1983) 45 ALR 1
Code: DOC1887Date: 24/2/1983Type: Judicial
R v Pearson; Ex parte Sipka was an important Australian court case decided in the High Court of Australia on 24 February 1983. It concerned section 41 of the Australian Constitution, and the question of whether four people eligible to vote in New South Wales could be prevented from voting at the federal level by a federal law which closed registration to vote on the day that the writs of election were issued. The court decided that they could, adopting a narrow interpretation of section 41, and therefore finding that there is no express constitutional right to vote in Australia.