The Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2006

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Part 1 of these Regulations, which comprises regulations 2 to 27, amend the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001 (“the principal Regulations”)(1).

Part 2, which comprises regulations 28 and 29, makes minor amendments to the Local Authorities (Conduct of Referendums) (England) Regulations 2001(2) (“the Conduct of Referendum Regulations”) and the Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2002(3) (“the Mayoral Elections Regulations”).

Regulation 2 of these Regulations amends the provisions of the principal Regulations about applications for registration to require an application for registration as an elector, except in specified circumstances, to include a statement as to the applicant’s nationality. It also removes the requirement for an applicant who will attain the age of 70 years in the period of twelve months beginning with the date of his application to state the date on which he will attain the age of 70 years.

Regulation 3 amends regulation 51 of the principal Regulations to allow voters to apply for a postal vote at the same time as they apply to be registered to vote.

Regulation 4 inserts regulations 51A and 51B in the principal Regulations. Regulation 51(3) of the principal Regulations requires an application for an absent vote to be signed by the applicant. Regulation 51A provides that the registration officer may satisfy himself that the application has been signed by the applicant by referring to any signature previously provided to the registration officer or the returning officer which the applicant has previously provided to them.

Regulation 51B requires that an application by person for their ballot paper to be sent to an address different from that shown in the record for the purposes of a particular election must set out why his circumstances are such that he will require his ballot paper to be sent to that address.

Regulation 5 amends regulation 55 of the principal Regulations concerning additional requirements for applications for a proxy vote in respect of a particular election. In addition to the requirements in the principal Regulations, the application, if made by reason of the applicant’s physical incapacity and if made after 5pm on the 6^th working day before the date of the poll, will be subject to the requirements in regulation 53 of the principal Regulations.

Regulation 53 of the principal Regulations provides for additional requirements for applications to vote by proxy for a definite or indefinite period on grounds of physical incapacity or blindness. Amongst other things, regulation 53 prescribes the information to be provided by a person attesting an application for a proxy vote on the grounds of the applicant’s physical incapacity. If the application is made after 5pm on the 6^th working day before the date of the poll, the person attesting the application will also be required in, addition to the requirements in regulation 53, to state, to the best of his knowledge and belief, the date upon which the applicant became physically incapacitated.

Regulation 6 amends the provisions in regulation 56 of the principal Regulations concerning closing dates for an application for an absent vote. Regulation 56 now requires that, except in the case of applications to vote by proxy, the application must be received by the registration officer not later than 5pm on the eleventh working day before the date of the poll at a relevant election.

Where a person applies to vote by proxy at a specific election, the application must be received by not later then 5pm on the 6^th working day before the date of the poll at the relevant election. However, where a person applies to vote by proxy at a particular election on the grounds of physical incapacity and the applicant became incapacitated after 5pm on the 6^th working day before the date of the poll, the application, or an application for the appointment of a proxy made by virtue of that application, must be received by not later than 5pm on the date of the poll.

Regulation 7 amends regulation 57 of the principal Regulations concerning notification requirements to require that where a registration officer grants an application for a postal vote, he must notify the applicant of his decision. Further, where for the purposes of a particular election a person applies for their ballot paper to be sent to an address different from that shown in the record, the registration officer must notify them if the application is granted. He is also required to notify a person removed from the record of absent voters for a definite or indefinite period and of the reason for the removal. Similarly, where the appointment of a proxy is cancelled by the elector or otherwise ceases to be in force, the registration officer must confirm the cancellation or, as the case may be, notify the elector that the appointment is no longer in force and the reason for this.

Regulation 8 makes a minor correction to regulation 72 of the principal Regulations.

Regulation 9 amends regulation 77 of the principal Regulations to allow applications for replacement ballot papers in the case of spoilt declarations of identity. Previously a ballot paper could only be replaced if the ballot paper itself had been spoilt. An application for a replacement ballot paper in these circumstances can now be made up until 5pm on the day of the poll. However, after 5pm on the day before the day of the poll applications for replacement ballot papers may only be made in person.

Regulation 10 amends regulation 78 of the principal Regulations to allow applications for replacement ballot papers where the voter claims to have lost or not received his ballot paper, the declaration of identity or the envelopes supplied for their return. Previously a ballot paper could only be replaced if the ballot paper itself had been lost. Similar deadlines apply to applications for replacement ballot papers in the case of lost ballot papers, declarations of identity and envelopes as apply to applications for replacement ballot papers under Regulation 77.

Regulation 11 amends regulation 79 of the principal Regulations to enable the returning officer to collect postal ballot papers from polling stations when they have been returned there.

Regulation 12 amends regulation 91 of the principal Regulations. Previously the regulation required the returning officer at a parliamentary election to send to the Secretary of State, a copy of the completed statement as to the number of postal ballot papers issued. As amended the regulation requires the returning officer at both parliamentary and local government elections to send a copy of the completed statement to the Secretary of State and the Electoral Commission ten to fifteen working days following the date of the poll.

Regulation 25 amends the prescribed form for the Statement as to postal ballot papers (Form K) in Schedule 3 to the principal Regulations, in consequence the amendments made to regulation 91 of the principal Regulations by regulation 14. Regulation 25 also makes an amendment consequential upon amendments to regulation 78 of the Principal regulations by regulation 10.

The principal Regulations were amended by the Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2002(4) (“the Amendment Regulations”) to make new provision in respect of the free supply and sale of the register of electors. Regulation 93 of the principal Regulations as amended by the Amendment Regulations provides for an edited version of the register of electors which does not contain the names of persons who have requested exclusion of their names from that version of the register. Under Regulation 110 of the principal Regulations as so amended, the edited version of the register is available for sale without restriction. By contrast, the Amendment Regulations introduced new restrictions on the sale and supply free of charge of the full version of the register (“the full register”) and its use. Breach of the restrictions was made an offence under regulation 115 of the principal Regulations as amended. The following changes made by these Regulations amend those restrictions.

Regulation 13 amends regulation 92 of the principal Regulations to provide that one of the organisations entitled to obtain the full register may procure a data processor which already has a copy to process it and provide it with a copy, without first being required to supply a copy to the data processor. It also amends regulation 92 of the principal Regulations to give full effect to other amendments made by these Regulations.

Regulation 14 amends regulation 96 of the principal Regulations to confirm that where the full register is made available for inspection under supervision the information so obtained shall not be used for direct marketing purposes.

Regulation 15 amends regulation 97 of the principal Regulations by requiring that a data copy of the full register be provided, free of charge, to the British Library in addition to the current requirement for the provision of a printed copy. The amendments further provide for an additional restriction in relation to the copy of the full register - where a copy of the register is made available in an electronic format, the format must prevent it from being copied or from being searched by electronic means by reference to the name of any person. The amendments also provide that, once a copy of the full register is over 10 years old, a copy of that register, or information contained in it, may be provided for research purposes which comply with the relevant conditions (within the meaning of section 33(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998(5)).

Regulation 16 inserts regulations 97A and 97B into the principal Regulations, which respectively make provision for the supply of copies of the full register, free of charge, to the National Libraries of Wales and Scotland. Both printed and data copies of the full register are to be supplied by registration officers in Wales and printed copies of the full register must be supplied by registration officers in England. Similar provisions to those applying to the British Library in respect of access to the register apply to the National Library of Wales. Data copies of the full register must be supplied by registration officers in England and Wales to the National Library of Scotland.

Regulation 17 amends regulation 99 of the principal Regulations, by making similar provisions regarding access to copies of the full register held by the Office for National Statistics to those which apply to the British Library by reason of regulation 15.

Regulation 18 makes a minor correction to heading to regulation 102 of the principal Regulations.

Regulation 19 of these Regulations provides that a copy of the register may be supplied to any local authority (within the meaning of section 116 of the Local Government Act 2003(6)) in addition to the local authority by which the electoral registration officer was appointed. The use that may be made of the full register by such local authorities is also extended to include use for the purposes of a local poll within the meaning of section 116 of the Local Government Act 2003.

Regulation 20 amends regulation 109 of the principal Regulations, by providing that a copy of the full register may be supplied to the Security Service, Government Communications Headquarters and the Secret Intelligence Service for use in respect of their statutory functions in addition to the organisations already listed. It also provides that police forces and organisations may use the register for the purpose of the vetting of constables, officers and employees for the purposes of safeguarding national security.

Regulation 21 inserts regulation 109A in the principal Regulations, which provides that a copy of the full register may be supplied to a library maintained by a library authority or to an archives service established by a local authority. Provisions similar to those applying to the British Library in respect of access to the register apply to libraries and archive services.

Regulation 22 amends regulation 111(7) of the principal Regulations. The effect of the amendment is to confirm that any notice issued by an electoral register officer under section 13A(2) or 13B(3) of the Representation of the People Act 1983(7) which is sold in accordance with the principal Regulations shall be marked to show any name that is not included in the edited register, in the same way as copies of the full register which are sold are required to be so marked.

Regulation 23 amends regulation 113 of the principal Regulations, by specifying that, in addition to the authorised sale of a copy of the full register to government departments (subject to restrictions as to the use of it) under the principal Regulations, it may also be sold to the Environment Agency and the Financial Services Authority subject to the same restrictions. In addition, those restrictions are relaxed to a limited extent to allow the use of the register for the vetting of persons for the purposes of safeguarding national security.

Regulation 24 amends regulation 115(2). The amendments update and correct references in the provision of the principal Regulations which specify the provisions for which a breach would amount to an offence, specifying new provisions contained in the other amendments made by these Regulations.

Regulation 26 amends regulation 12 of the Conduct of Referendums Regulations, which make provision for the conduct of referendums in England held under section 27 of the Local Government Act 2000(8) or by virtue of regulations or an Order made under Part II of that Act. Regulation 28 changes the hours of polling on the day of a referendum from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Regulation 27 amends to Table 4 of Schedule 3 to the Conduct of Referendums Regulations, which applies and modifies the principal Regulations. The effect of the amendment is to apply regulations 51A and 51B to the Conduct of Referendums Regulations without modification.

Regulation 28 amends rule 3 in Schedule 3 to the Mayoral Election Regulations by changing the hours of polling for a mayoral election held in England and Wales from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Previously, the polling hours for a mayoral election would only be between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. if that election was combined with certain other elections or referendums.

(1)

S.I. 2001/341, which was amended by S. I. 2001/1700, S.I. 2002/1871 and S.I. 2004/294.

(2)

S.I. 200/1298, which was amended by S.I. 2001/1494, 2002/521 and 2004/226.

(3)

S.I. 2002/185, which was amended by S.I. 2004/225.

(4)

S.I. 2002/1871.

(5)

1998 c. 29.

(6)

2003 c. 26.

(7)

1983 c. 2. Sections 13A and 13B were inserted by Schedule 1 to the Representation of the People Act 2000 (c. 2).

(8)

2000 c. 22, which was amended by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41).