Government amendment G-44 refers to clause 176, which it amends on lines 37 through 39 on page 121. It would change the wording to read, “or if both their offices are vacant during an election period”, so that what we're adding is “during an election period”. The proposed section continues that the election officer “shall designate a person to act in place of the returning officer”, whereupon we add a further amendment, “and that person may, during and after that period, perform the duties of a returning officer in relation to that election”.
I think it's fairly clear what we're getting at here, but if the expert panel would like to add some commentary, I would welcome it.