The Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001

[F1 Supply of free copy of full register for electoral purposes and restrictions on use E+W

98.— (1) Each registration officer shall supply, free of charge and on publication, one copy of—

(a) any revised version of the register published under section 13(1) or (3) of the 1983 Act, and

(b) any notice setting out an alteration to the register published under section 13A(2) or 13B(3) [F2 , (3B) or (3D)] of that Act,

to the persons listed in paragraph (2) below.

(2) Those persons are—

(a) the returning officer for a non-metropolitan county;

(b) the persons or officers who, under subsections (2B) and (2C) of section 35 of the 1983 Act are the returning officers at an election of members of the London Assembly and of the Mayor of London;

(c) the returning officer appointed pursuant to section 35(1) or (1A) (as the case may be) of the 1983 Act for elections to each parish or community council within the electoral area.

(3) In paragraph (1) the duty to supply one copy of the register is a duty to supply it in data form unless, prior to publication, the officer or person to whom it is to be supplied has requested in writing a printed copy instead.

(4) As soon as practicable after the relevant event, a registration officer who is not the acting returning officer for a constituency wholly or partly in his registration area shall supply free of charge to that officer as many printed copies of—

(a) the latest revised version of the register published under section 13(1) or (3) of the 1983 Act, as the case may be,

(b) any notice setting out an alteration to that version of the register published under section 13A(2) or 13B(3) of that Act, and

(c) the most recent list of overseas electors,

as the returning officer may reasonably require for the purposes of a parliamentary election.

(5) In paragraph (4) above—

(a) “relevant event” means—

(i) the announcement of Her Majesty’s intention to dissolve Parliament, or

(ii) the occurrence of a vacancy in the relevant constituency; and

(b) the duty to supply as many printed copies of the register, notices and list of overseas electors as the returning officer may reasonably require includes a duty to supply one copy of each in data form.

(6) As soon as practicable after the relevant date, a registration officer who is not designated as a local returning officer for part of an electoral region which falls wholly or partly in his registration area shall supply free of charge to that officer as many printed copies of the documents referred to in paragraph (4)(a), (b) and (c) above as the local returning officer may reasonably require for the purposes of a European Parliamentary election.

(7) In paragraph (6) above—

(a) “relevant date” means—

(i) in the case of a general election of MEPs, the date which is two months before the day appointed by order of the Secretary of State for the poll, or

(ii) where the Secretary of State has made an order appointing a day for the poll at a by-election, the date on which that order was made; and

(b) the duty to supply as many printed copies of the register, notices and list of overseas electors as the local returning officer may reasonably require includes a duty to supply one copy of each in data form.

(8) Where a registration officer is not the returning officer for any election to the National Assembly for Wales in respect of any constituency or region wholly or partly within his registration area, he shall supply free of charge to that officer as many printed copies of the documents referred to in paragraph (4)(a) or (b) above, together with one copy of each in data form, as the returning officer may reasonably require for the purposes of such an election.

(9) No person to whom a copy of the register has been supplied under this regulation may—

(a) supply a copy of the full register,

(b) disclose any information contained in it (that is not contained in the edited register), or

(c) make use of any such information,

other than for the purposes of an election.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Pt. 6 inserted (16.10.2002) by The Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/1871), regs. 2(2), 15 (with reg. 2(3))

F2 Words in reg. 98 inserted (1.1.2007) by The Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/2910), regs. 1(1), 28 (with reg. 1(2)(3)(a))

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 Reg. 98 applied (with modifications) (23.7.2004) by The Regional Assembly and Local Government Referendums Order 2004 (S.I. 2004/1962), arts. 1(1), 6(1), Sch. 2 Pt. 3

C2 Reg. 98 applied (with modifications) (16.2.2011) by Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 (c. 1), s. 19(2), Sch. 5 para. 50

C3 Reg. 98(8) modified (16.2.2011) by Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 (c. 1), s. 19(2), Sch. 6 para. 56