Representation of the People Act 1985

[F1 8 Proxies at elections. N.I.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, any person is capable of being appointed proxy to vote for another (in this section and section 9 of this Act referred to as “the elector”) at any parliamentary F2 ... election and may vote in pursuance of the appointment.

(2) The elector cannot have more than one person at a time appointed as proxy to vote for him at parliamentary elections (whether in the same constituency or elsewhere).

[F3 (2A) A person is not capable of being appointed to vote, or voting, as proxy at a parliamentary election unless the person is or will be registered in a register of parliamentary electors in Great Britain or Northern Ireland.]

[F4 (3) A person is not capable of being appointed to vote, or voting, as proxy at a parliamentary election—

(a) if he is subject to any legal incapacity (age apart) to vote at that election as an elector, F5 ...

F6 (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F7 (3A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]

(4) A person is not capable of voting as proxy at [F8 a parliamentary F9 ... ] election unless on the date of the poll he has attained the age of eighteen.

[F10 (5) A person—

(a) is not entitled to vote as proxy at a parliamentary election on behalf of more than two electors who do not fall within subsection (5A), but

(b) subject to paragraph (a), is entitled to vote as proxy at a parliamentary election on behalf of up to four electors.

(5A) An elector falls within this subsection if the elector is registered in a register of parliamentary electors in pursuance of an overseas elector’s declaration or a service declaration.

(5B) Where the polls for two or more parliamentary elections are held on the same day, references in subsection (5A) to a parliamentary election are to all of those elections taken together.]

(6) Where the elector applies to the registration officer for the appointment of a proxy to vote for him at parliamentary elections F11 . . . for an indefinite period, the registration officer shall make the appointment if the application meets the prescribed requirements and he is satisfied that the elector is or will be—

(a) registered in the register of [F12 parliamentary electors], and

(b) shown in the record kept under section 6 of this Act as voting by proxy at such elections,

and that the proxy is capable of being and willing to be appointed to vote as proxy at such elections.

(7) Where the elector applies to the registration officer for the appointment of a proxy to vote for him at a particular parliamentary F13 ... election, the registration officer shall make the appointment if the application meets the prescribed requirements and he is satisfied that the elector is or will be—

(a) registered in the register of parliamentary F14 . . . electors for that election, and

(b) entitled to vote by proxy at that election by virtue of an application under section 7 of this Act,

and that the proxy is capable of being and willing to be appointed.

[F15 (7A) The requirements prescribed under subsections (6) and (7) must include a requirement for an application to contain the proxy’s date of birth.]

(8) The appointment of a proxy under this section is to be made by means of a proxy paper issued by the registration officer.

[F16 (9) The appointment may be cancelled by the elector by giving notice to the registration officer, and shall also cease to be in force on the issue of a proxy paper appointing a different person to vote for him at any parliamentary election or elections (whether in the same constituency or elsewhere).]

(10) Subject to subsection (9) above, the appointment shall remain in force—

(a) in the case of an appointment for a particular election, for that election, and

(b) in any other case, while the elector is shown as voting by proxy in the record kept under section 6 of this Act in pursuance of the same application under that section.

F17 (11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 8 repealed (E.W.S.) (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15(2), Sch. 7 Pt. II; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F2 Words in s. 8(1) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 16(2), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F3 S. 8(2A) inserted (31.10.2023) by Elections Act 2022 (c. 37), s. 67(1), Sch. 4 para. 6(2); S.I. 2023/1145, reg. 2(f)(iv)

F4 S. 8(3)(3A) substituted for s. 8(3) (6.8.1995) by S.I. 1995/1948, reg. 5(2), Sch. 2 para. 7

F5 Word in s. 8(3)(a) omitted (31.10.2023) by virtue of Elections Act 2022 (c. 37), s. 67(1), Sch. 4 para. 6(3)(a); S.I. 2023/1145, reg. 2(f)(iv)

F6 S. 8(3)(b) omitted (31.10.2023) by virtue of Elections Act 2022 (c. 37), s. 67(1), Sch. 4 para. 6(3)(b); S.I. 2023/1145, reg. 2(f)(iv)

F7 S. 8(3A) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 16(3), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F8 Words in s. 8(4) substituted (6.8.1995) by S.I. 1995/1948, reg. 5(2), Sch. 2 para. 8

F9 Words in s. 8(4) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 16(4), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F10 S. 8(5)-(5B) substituted for s. 8(5) (31.1.2024) by Elections Act 2022 (c. 37), s. 67(1), Sch. 4 para. 6(4); S.I. 2023/1145, reg. 4(d)(iv) (with Sch. para. 4)

F11 Words in s. 8(6) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 16(6)(a), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F12 Words in s. 8(6)(a) substituted (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15(1), Sch. 6 para. 16(6)(b); S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F13 Words in s. 8(7) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 16(7)(a), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F14 Words in s. 8(7)(a) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 16(7)(b), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F15 S. 8(7A) inserted (31.10.2023) by Elections Act 2022 (c. 37), s. 67(1), Sch. 4 para. 6(5); S.I. 2023/1145, reg. 2(f)(iv)

F16 S. 8(9) substituted (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15(1), Sch. 6 para. 16(8); S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F17 S. 8(11) repealed by Finance Act 1985 (c.54, SIF 114), s. 98(6), Sch. 27 Pt. IX(2)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 8 applied with modifications by S.I. 1986/2250, regs. 2, 3, 5, Sch. 1 Pt. III

S. 8 applied (with modifications) (4.5.1996) by S.I. 1996/1220, art. 3(1)(a)(b)(5)-(8), Sch. 1

S. 8 applied (with modifications) (31.7.1997) by 1997 c. 61, s. 3, Sch. 3 para. 13 Table 3

S. 8 applied (with modifications) (19.3.1998) by S.I. 1998/746, art. 12, Sch. 1 Table 3

S. 8 applied (with modifications) (22.5.1998) by S.I. 1998/1287, art. 3(1)(3), Sch. 1

S. 8 applied (with modifications) (25.4.1998) by S.I. 1998/1126, art. 6(1), Sch. 2

C2 S. 8 modified (17.2.1994) by S.I. 1994/342, regs. 2(2), 15(4), 16(5)

C3 S. 8 applied (with modifications) (1.8.2001) by S.I. 2001/2599, art. 3, Sch. 1 (as substituted (10.2.2009) by S.I. 2009/256, arts. 1(2), 3(1)(2), Sch. 1)

C4 S. 8 applied (with modifications) (31.10.2023) by S.I. 2001/2599, Sch. 1 (as amended by Elections Act 2022 (c. 37), s. 67(1), Sch. 6 para. 45; S.I. 2023/1145, reg. 2(g)(viii))

C5 S. 8(5) restricted (31.10.2023) by The Elections Act 2022 (Commencement No. 9, Transitional and Savings Provisions and Appointed and Specified Days) and Ballot Secrecy Act 2023 (Commencement) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1145), Sch. para. 4