The National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) Order 2007

Absent vote at Assembly elections for a particular or an indefinite period

8.—(1) Where a person applies to the registration officer to vote by post, or to vote by proxy, at Assembly elections (whether for an indefinite period or for a particular period specified in his application), the registration officer shall grant the application if—

(a) in the case of an application to vote by proxy, he is satisfied that the applicant is eligible to vote by proxy at Assembly elections;

(b) he is satisfied that the applicant is or will be registered in the register; and

(c) the application contains the applicant’s signature and date of birth and meets the requirements set out in Schedule 1.

(2) For the purposes of this article, a person is eligible to vote by proxy at Assembly elections if—

(a) he is or will be registered as a service voter;

(b) he has an anonymous entry in the register of electors for the election;

(c) he cannot reasonably be expected—

(i) to go in person to the polling station allotted or likely to be allotted to him under this Order; or

(ii) to vote unaided there,

by reason of blindness or other disability;

(d) he cannot reasonably be expected to go in person to that polling station by reason of the general nature of his occupation, service or employment or that of his spouse or civil partner, or by reason of his attendance on a course provided by an educational institution or that of his spouse or civil partner; or

(e) he cannot go in person from his qualifying address to that polling station without making a journey by air or sea.

(3) The registration officer shall keep a record of those whose applications under this article have been granted showing whether their applications were to vote by post or proxy for an indefinite or a particular period and specifying that period.

(4) The record kept under paragraph (3) shall also show—

(a) in the case of those who may vote by post, the addresses provided by them in their applications as the addresses to which their ballot papers are to be sent; and

(b) in the case of those who may vote by proxy, the names and addresses of those appointed as their proxies.

(5) The registration officer shall remove a person from the record kept under paragraph (3)—

(a) if he applies to the registration officer to be removed;

(b) in the case of a person who is eligible to vote by proxy by virtue of having an anonymous entry, if he ceases to have an anonymous entry;

(c) in the case of any registered person, if he ceases to be registered or registered at the same qualifying address or ceases to be, or becomes, registered in pursuance of—

(i) a service declaration; or

(ii) a declaration of local connection;

(d) in the case of any person shown in the record as voting by proxy, if the registration officer gives notice that he has reason to believe there has been a material change of circumstances; or

(e) in the case of a person who applied to vote by post or proxy for a particular period, once that period has expired.

(6) A person shown in the record kept under paragraph (3) as voting by post may subsequently alter his choice by applying to the registration officer to vote by proxy instead (whether for an indefinite period or for a particular period specified in his application); and if the registration officer would be required to grant that application if it were an application to vote by proxy under paragraph (1), the registration officer shall amend the record accordingly.

(7) A person shown in the record kept under paragraph (3) as voting by proxy may subsequently alter his choice by applying to the registration officer to vote by post instead (whether for an indefinite period or for a particular period specified in his application); and if the application meets the requirements of Schedule 1, the registration officer shall amend the record accordingly.

(8) The registration officer may dispense with the requirement under paragraph (1)(c) for the applicant to provide a signature if he is satisfied that the applicant is unable—

(a) to provide a signature because of any disability the applicant has; or

(b) to provide a signature because the applicant is unable to read or write; or

(c) to sign in a consistent and distinctive way because of any such disability or inability.

(9) The registration officer shall also keep a record in relation to those whose applications under this article have been granted showing—

(a) their dates of birth; and

(b) except in cases where the registration officer in pursuance of paragraph (8) has dispensed with the requirement to provide a signature, their signatures.

(10) The record kept under paragraph (9) must be retained by the registration officer for the period prescribed in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1.