Representation of the People Act 1985

[F1 9 Voting as proxy. N.I.

(1) A person entitled to vote as proxy at a parliamentary [F2 or local government] election may do so in person at the polling station allotted to the elector under the appropriate rules unless he is entitled to vote by post as proxy for the elector at the election, in which case he may vote by post.

[F3 (1A) But in the case of a person entitled to vote as proxy for an elector who has an anonymous entry—

(a) subsection (1) does not apply, and

(b) the person may only so vote by post (where entitled as a proxy to vote by post).]

(2) Where a person is entitled to vote by post as proxy for the elector at any election, the elector may not apply for a ballot paper for the purpose of voting in person at the election.

(3) For the purposes of this and the principal Act, a person entitled to vote as proxy for another at a parliamentary F2 . . . election is entitled so to vote by post if he is included in the list kept under subsection (9) below in respect of the election.

(4) Where a person applies to the registration officer to vote by post as proxy at parliamentary elections F4 . . . for an indefinite period, the registration officer shall (subject to subsections (10) and (12) below) grant the application if—

(a) the applicant is included in any record kept under section 6 of this Act in respect of a constituency F5 . . . for the whole or any part of which the registration officer acts, or

(b) the address provided by the applicant in his application as the address to which his ballot paper is to be sent is not in the same area as the elector’s qualifying address or, where the elector is registered in pursuance of an overseas elector’s declaration, the address specified in the declaration in accordance with section 2(4) of this Act, [F6 or]

[F7 (c) the elector has an anonymous entry,]

and the application meets the prescribed requirements.

F8 (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(6) The registration officer shall keep a record of those whose applications under subsection (4) above have been granted showing—

F9 (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b) the addresses provided by them in their applications as the addresses to which their ballot papers are to be sent

(7) Where a person applies to the registration officer to vote by post as proxy at a particular election and the application meets the prescribed requirements, the registration officer shall (subject to subsections (10) and (12) below) grant the application if—

(a) he is satisfied that the applicant’s circumstances on the date of the poll will be or are likely to be such that he cannot reasonably be expected to vote in person at the polling station allotted or likely to be allotted to the elector under the appropriate rules, or

(b) the applicant is, or the registration officer is satisfied that he will be, included in respect of the constituency F10 . . . for the whole or any part of which the registration officer acts in any of the absent voters lists for that election, [F11 or]

[F12 (c) the elector has an anonymous entry.]

(8) Where, in the case of a particular election, a person included in the record kept under subsection (6) above F13 . . . applies to the registration officer for his ballot paper to be sent to a different address in the United Kingdom, the registration officer shall grant the application if it meets the prescribed requirements.

(9) The registration officer shall, in respect of each parliamentary F14 . . . election, keep a special list of—

(a) those who are for the time being included in the record kept under subsection (6) above F15 . . ., together with the addresses provided by them in their applications under that subsection or, as the case may be, subsection (8) above as the addresses to which their ballot papers are to be sent, and

(b) those whose applications under subsection (7) above have been granted in respect of the election concerned, together with the addresses provided by them in their applications as the addresses to which their ballot papers are to be sent.

[F16 (9A) In the case of a person who has an anonymous entry, the list mentioned in subsection (9)(a) or (b) must contain only—

(a) the person’s electoral number, and

(b) the date on which the entitlement of the person to remain registered anonymously will terminate under section 9C(1A) of the principal Act (in the absence of a further application under section 9B of that Act).

(9B) In the case of a person who is the proxy for an elector who has an anonymous entry, the list mentioned in subsection (9)(a) or (b) must contain only—

(a) the person’s electoral number, and

(b) the date on which the elector’s entitlement to remain registered anonymously will terminate under section 9C(1A) of the principal Act (in the absence of a further application under section 9B of that Act).]

(10) The registration officer shall not grant any application under this section unless—

(a) he is satisfied that the elector is or will be registered in the register of parliamentary electors F17 . . ., and

(b) there is in force an appointment of the applicant as the elector’s proxy to vote for him at [F18 parliamentary elections] or, as the case may be, the election concerned.

(11) The registration officer shall remove a person from the record kept under subsection (6) above—

(a) if he applies to the registration officer to be removed,

(b) where he was included in the record on the ground mentioned in subsection (4)(a) above, if he ceases to be included in any record kept under section 6 of this Act in respect of a constituency F19 . . ., for the whole or any part of which the registration officer acts or becomes so included in pursuance of a further application under that section,

[F20 (ba) where he was included in the record on the ground mentioned in subsection (4)(c), if the elector ceases to have an anonymous entry,]

(c) if the elector ceases to be registered as mentioned in subsection (10)(a) above, or

(d) if the appointment of the person concerned as the elector’s proxy ceases to be in force (whether or not he is re-appointed).

[F21 (11A) Subsection (2) above does not prevent a person, at the polling station allotted to him, marking a tendered ballot paper in pursuance of rule 40(1ZC) or (1ZE) of the parliamentary elections rules.]

F21 (12) A person applying to vote by post as proxy must provide an address in the United Kingdom as the address to which his ballot paper is to be sent.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 9 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. 9(1)(3) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 17(2), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F3 S. 9(1A) inserted (15.9.2014) by The Anonymous Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/1116), arts. 1(1), 5(5)(a)

F4 Words in s. 9(4) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 17(3)(a), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F5 Words in s. 9(4)(a) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 17(3)(b), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F6 Word in s. 9(4)(b) inserted (15.9.2014) by The Anonymous Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/1116), arts. 1(1), 5(5)(b)

F7 S. 9(4)(c) inserted (15.9.2014) by The Anonymous Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/1116), arts. 1(1), 5(5)(b)

F8 S. 9(5) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, 17(3), Sch. 6 para. 17(4), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F9 S. 9(6)(a) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 17(5), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F10 Words in s. 9(7) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 17(6), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F11 Word in s. 9(7)(b) inserted (15.9.2014) by The Anonymous Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/1116), arts. 1(1), 5(5)(c)

F12 S. 9(7)(c) inserted (15.9.2014) by The Anonymous Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/1116), arts. 1(1), 5(5)(c)

F13 Words in s. 9(8) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 17(7), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F14 Words in s. 9(9) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 17(8)(a), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F15 Words in s. 9(9)(a) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 17(8)(b), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F16 S. 9(9A)(9B) inserted (15.9.2014) by The Anonymous Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/1116), arts. 1(1), 5(5)(d)

F17 Words in s. 9(10)(a) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 17(9)(a), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F18 Words in s. 9(10)(b) substituted (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15(1), Sch. 6 para. 17(9)(b); S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F19 Words in s. 9(11)(b) repealed (16.2.2001) by 2000 c. 2, s. 15, Sch. 6 para. 17(10), Sch. 7 Pt. III; S.I. 2001/116, art. 2(1) (subject to transitional provisions in art. 2(3)-(5))

F20 S. 9(11)(ba) inserted (15.9.2014) by The Anonymous Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/1116), arts. 1(1), 5(5)(e)

F21 S. 9(11A) inserted (1.7.2008) by Electoral Administration Act 2006 (c. 22), ss. 38(5), 77; S.I. 2008/1316, arts. 2(3), 5(a)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 9 applied (with modifications) by S.I. 1986/2250, regs. 2, 3, 5, Sch. 1 Pt. III

S. 9 applied (with modifications) (N.I.) (4.5.1996) by S.I. 1996/1220. art. 3(1)(a)(b)(5)-(8), Sch. 1

S. 9 applied (with modifications) (31.7.1997) by 1997 c. 61, s. 3, Sch. 3 para. 13 Table 3

S. 9 applied (with modifications) (N.I.) (25.4.1998) by S.I. 1998/1126, art. 6(1), Sch. 2

S. 9 applied (with modifications) (19.3.1998) by S.I. 1998/746, art. 12, Sch. 1 Table 3

S. 9 applied (with modifications) (22.5.1998) by S.I. 1998/1287, art. 3(1)(3), Sch. 1

S. 9 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)