26.—(1) The presiding officer must exclude from the polling station everyone except—
(a)voters,
(b)persons under the age of 18 who accompany voters to the polling station,
(c)the Chief Counting Officer, the Regional Counting Officer (in the case of a polling station in a region for which a Regional Counting Officer is appointed) and the counting officer,
(d)the referendum agents,
(e)the polling agents appointed to attend at the polling station,
(f)the clerks appointed to attend at the polling station,
(g)persons who are entitled to attend by virtue of any of sections 6A to 6D of the 2000 Act(1),
(h)the constables on duty, and
(i)the companions of voters with disabilities attending at the polling station.
(2) The presiding officer must regulate the total number of voters and persons under the age of 18 who accompany them to be admitted to the polling station at the same time.
(3) No more than one polling agent may be admitted at the same time to a polling station on behalf of the same referendum agent.
(4) A constable or person employed by a counting officer may be admitted to vote in person elsewhere than at the polling station allotted under this Part only on production and surrender of a certificate (referred to in this Part as a “certificate as to employment on duty on the day of the poll”) that—
(a)confirms that the person is a constable or, as the case may be, is employed by a counting officer,
(b)is in the form set out in Form 16 in Schedule 4 (for a person in Great Britain) or Form 17 in that Schedule (for a person in Northern Ireland), and
(c)is signed—
(i)in the case of a certificate for a person in Great Britain, by an officer of police of or above the rank of inspector or, as the case may be, by the counting officer, or
(ii)in the case of a certificate for a person in Northern Ireland, by an officer of the Police Service of Northern Ireland of or above the rank of chief inspector or, as the case may be, by the counting officer.
(5) A certificate surrendered under this regulation must be cancelled immediately.
(6) In the application of this regulation in England and Wales, a reference to a constable includes a person designated as a community support officer under section 38 of the Police Reform Act 2002 (police powers for employees).
Commencement Information
I1Reg. 26 in force at 26.2.2016, see reg. 1
2000 c.41. “2000 Act” is defined in section 11(1) of the 2015 Act. Sections 6A to 6D of the 2000 Act were inserted by section 29 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (c.22). There are amendments to sections 6A to 6D which are not relevant to these Regulations.