The Representation of the People (Absent Voting at Local Government Elections) (Scotland) Regulations 2007

[F1 Notification of a rejected postal voting statement S

20.— (1) Where the registration officer receives from a returning officer a copy of a list of rejected postal voting statements compiled under regulation 27(4) of the Representation of the People (Postal Voting for Local Government Elections) (Scotland) Regulations 2007, the registration officer must use that information for the purposes of paragraph (2) and regulation 21, and must not use that information for any other purpose.

(2) Where an absent voter (whether an elector or a proxy) appears on that list—

(a) the registration officer must notify the absent voter (and the elector if the absent voter is a proxy) that the ballot paper concerned was rejected because the returning officer was not satisfied that the postal voting statement issued for that ballot paper was duly completed;

(b) the registration officer must send the notification within the period of three months beginning with the date of the poll at which the ballot paper was rejected; and

(c) the notification must include information as to which of the specified reasons referred to in regulation 27(5) of the Representation of the People (Postal Voting for Local Government Elections) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 applied to the absent voter’s postal voting statement.

(3) The registration officer is not obliged to send notification—

(a) to any person who is no longer shown as voting by post in the records kept under paragraph 3(4) or 7(6) of Schedule 4 at the time the registration officer proposes to send out the notification; or

(b) where the registration officer suspects that an offence may have been committed in relation to the postal ballot paper, postal voting statement or the absent voter’s registration as an elector.

(4) A notification under paragraph (2) may also include any other information that the registration officer considers appropriate, but must not include information held on the personal identifiers record.

(5) No person is to be allowed to inspect the copy of the list received by the registration officer, and that officer must cause it to be destroyed as soon as practicable after the purposes in paragraph (2) and regulation 21 have been served and, in any event, within four months of its receipt.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Regs. 20, 21 inserted (1.12.2016) by The Representation of the People (Absent Voting at Local Government Elections) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2016 (S.S.I. 2016/264), regs. 1(1), 4 (with reg. 1(2))