Parliament (Elections and Meeting) Act 1943

13 Registration officers

(1) Sections twelve, sixteen and forty-five of the principal Act (which defines registration officers and their areas) shall apply for the purposes of the registration of electors under this Part of this Act as they apply for the purposes of such registration under that Act.

(2) It shall be the duty of the registration officer for any constituency—

(a) in accordance with this Part of this Act and electoral registration regulations, to compile and publish the register required for any election in the constituency, and to place, or cause to be placed, on the register the names of those entitled to be registered; and

(b) to perform such duties as may be imposed upon him for the purposes of this Part of this Act by national registration regulations; and

(c) to comply with any general or special instructions which may be given by the Secretary of State with respect to the arrangements to be made by him for carrying out his duties under this Part of this Act, electoral registration regulations and national registration regulations.

(3) For the purposes of this Part of this Act, the proper officer of the council of a county borough or county district shall be the town clerk or the clerk of the council, and it shall be the duty of every such council to provide their proper officer with such staff as he may require for the discharge of his duties under this Part of this Act and national registration regulations made by virtue thereof.

(4) Without prejudice to any power of a registration officer to appoint a deputy,—

(a) all or any of his functions under this Part of this Act or electoral registration regulations in connection with the preparation and publication of any electors list or of any supplementary list; and

(b) all or any of the duties imposed on him for the purposes of this Part of this Act by national registration regulations;

may, if he so desires, be performed in relation to any county borough or county district or any part thereof through the proper officer of the council thereof; and it shall be the duty of that officer, on being requested so to do by the registration officer,—

(i) to perform any such functions or duties as aforesaid in relation to the borough or district or the part thereof specified in the request;

(ii) whether or not he is performing any such functions or duties, to give to the registration officer such information as the registration officer may reasonably require from him for the purposes of this Part of this Act;

as well as to perform such duties as may be imposed upon him for the purposes of this Part of this Act by national registration regulations.

(5) If, without reasonable excuse, a registration officer or the proper officer of a council fails to perform any of his duties under this Part of this Act or electoral registration regulations or national registration regulations, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.