Representation of the People Act 1983

[F1 40ZA. (1) This rule applies to a person (“P”) who— U.K.

(a) is an elector with an anonymous entry in a register maintained by the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland; or

(b) is entitled to vote by post as proxy for such an elector,

and who claims to have lost, or not received, a postal ballot paper.

(2) P may apply to the Chief Electoral Officer for a replacement postal ballot paper (in these rules referred to as a “tendered postal ballot paper”).

(3) The application—

(a) may be made by post or in person,

(b) must be accompanied by a specified document within the meaning of rule 37 (as it extends to Northern Ireland), and

(c) must be delivered to the Chief Electoral Officer—

(i) where the application is made by post, before 4 p.m. on the fourth day before the day of the poll, and

(ii) where the application is made in person, before 4 p.m. on the day before the day of the poll.

(4) If the Chief Electoral Officer—

(a) is satisfied as to P’s identity, and

(b) has no reason to doubt that P has lost, or not received, a postal ballot paper,

the Chief Electoral Officer must issue a tendered postal ballot paper to P in the prescribed manner.

(5) A tendered postal ballot paper must be of a different colour from the other ballot papers.

(6) P, if issued with a tendered postal ballot paper, may mark it, sign it, and send it to the Chief Electoral Officer, in the same manner as a postal ballot paper.

(7) A tendered postal ballot paper which has not been signed, or which does not meet the conditions in rule 45(2) and (2A), is void.

(8) On receipt of a tendered postal ballot paper, the Chief Electoral Officer must deal with it in the prescribed manner.

(9) The Chief Electoral Officer must—

(a) endorse each tendered postal ballot paper with the entry in the register of the elector in question, and

(b) set it aside in a separate packet of tendered postal ballot papers.

(10) The Chief Electoral Officer must add the entry in the register of the elector in question to a list (in these rules referred to as the “tendered postal votes list”).

(11) The Chief Electoral Officer must seal the packet of tendered postal ballot papers.

(12) This rule applies in the case of a person in respect of whom a notice has been issued under section 13BA(9) (alteration of registers in Northern Ireland: pending elections) as if—

(a) in paragraph (1) for “in a register maintained” there were substituted “in respect of whom a notice under section 13BA(9) has been issued”; and

(b) in paragraphs (9)(a) and (10), for “entry in the register of the elector in question” there were substituted “entry relating to the elector in question on a notice issued under section 13BA(9)”.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 1 rule 40ZA inserted (15.9.2014) by The Anonymous Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/1116), arts. 1(1), 3(8)