Representation of the People Act 1983

Registration of parliamentary and local government electors

8 Registration officers

(1) For the registration of electors there shall be electoral registration officers (in this Act referred to as " registration officers ").

(2) In England and Wales—

(a) the council of every district and London borough shall appoint an officer of the council to be registration officer for any constituency or part of a constituency coterminous with or situated in the district or borough, and

(b) the Common Council shall appoint an officer to be registration officer for the part of the constituency containing the City and the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple.

(3) In Scotland, the council of every region and islands area shall appoint an officer of the council for their area or for any adjoining region or islands area, or an officer appointed by any combination of such councils, to be registration officer for any constituency or part of a constituency which is situated within that region or islands area.

(4) In Northern Ireland, the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is the registration officer for each constituency.

9 Registers of electors

(1) It is every registration officer's duty to prepare and publish in each year—

(a) a register of parliamentary electors for each constituency or part of a constituency in the area for which he acts; and

(b) a register of local government electors for the local government areas or parts of local government areas included in the area for which he acts.

(2) The registers of parliamentary electors and of local government electors shall so far as practicable be combined, the names of persons registered only as local government electors being marked to indicate that fact.

(3) A registration officer's general duty to prepare and publish registers of electors in conformity with this Act includes the duty to take reasonable steps to obtain information required by him for that purpose (without prejudice to any specific requirement of this Act or regulations under it).

10 Preparation of registers

With a view to the preparation of registers, the registration officer shall—

(a) have a house to house or other sufficient inquiry made as to the persons entitled to be registered (excluding persons entitled to be registered in pursuance of a service declaration);

(b) have prepared and published electors lists showing the persons appearing to him to be entitled to be registered together with their qualifying addresses ;

(c) determine all claims for registration duly made by any person, and all objections to any person's registration duly made by another person appearing from the electors lists to be himself entitled to be registered including claims and objections asking for the omission, insertion or alteration of a date as that on which a person will become of voting age and entitled to be treated as an elector.

11 Correction of registers

(1) Where a register of electors as published does not carry out the registration officer's intention—

(a) to include the name of any person shown in the electors lists as a person entitled to be registered, or

(b) to give or not to give in a person's entry a date as that on which he will attain voting age, or as to the date to be given, or

(c) to give effect to a decision on a claim or objection made with respect to the electors lists,

then (subject to the decision on any appeal from a decision on a claim or objection) the registration officer on becoming aware of the fact shall make the necessary correction in the register.

(2) Where—

(a) paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above does not apply, but

(b) the registration officer is satisfied by such evidence as he may require that any person whose name is not included in a register of electors as published is entitled to be registered in that register,

the registration officer shall make the necessary correction in the register.

(3) An alteration made in a register of electors under subsection (1) or subsection (2) above on or after the date on which notice of an election is given shall not have effect for the purposes of that election.

(4) No alteration shall be made in a register of electors as published otherwise than under—

(a) subsection (1) or subsection (2); or

(b) the provisions of sections 56 to 58 below relating to appeals.

12 Right to be registered

(1) A person who may be entitled to vote as an elector at parliamentary elections for which any register is to be used is entitled to be registered in that register, subject to—

(a) section 7(3) above, as to a person who on the qualifying date is a voluntary mental patient, and subsections (3) and (4) below as to one who on the qualifying date has a service qualification ; and

(b) any enactment imposing a disqualification for registration as a parliamentary elector.

(2) A person who may be entitled to vote as an elector at local government elections for which any register is to be used is entitled to be registered in that register, subject to—

(a) section 7(3) above, as to a person who on the qualifying date is a voluntary mental patient, and subsections (3) and (4) below as to one who on the qualifying date has a service qualification ; and

(b) any enactment imposing a disqualification for registration as a local government elector.

(3) A person who on the qualifying date has a service qualification is not entitled to be registered as mentioned in subsection (1) or subsection (2) above except in pursuance of an appropriate service declaration; and in this subsection and in subsection (4) below "appropriate service declaration" means—

(a) in the case of a person who on the qualifying date is a member of the forces or the wife or husband of such a member, a service declaration made in accordance with section 15 below and in force on that date; and

(b) in any other case, a service declaration made in accordance with that section with reference to that date.

(4) Subsection (3) above does not apply to a person who on the qualifying date is the wife or husband of a member of the forces if on that date—

(a) that person has no other service qualification ;

(b) that person is resident in the United Kingdom ; and

(c) no appropriate service declaration is in force in respect of that person.

(5) A person otherwise qualified is entitled to be registered in a register of parliamentary electors or a register of local government electors if he will attain voting age before the end of the twelve months following the day by which the register is required to be published; but, if he will not be of voting age on the first day of those twelve months—

(a) his entry in the register shall give the date on which he will attain that age; and

(b) until the date given in the entry he shall not by virtue of the entry be treated as an elector for any purposes other than purposes of an election at which the day fixed for the poll is that or a later date.

13 Publication of registers

(1) Registers of parliamentary and local government electors or, in Northern Ireland, of parliamentary electors, shall be——

(a) prepared and published once a year, and

(b) published not later than 15th February,

and registers published in any year shall be used for elections at which the date fixed for the poll falls within the period of twelve months beginning with 16th February in that year.

(2) The Secretary of State has power to make regulations altering the interval in Northern Ireland between the qualifying date and the date of publication of the registers of parliamentary electors by changing either date, and any such regulations may make such consequential provisions (including the modification of any enactment contained in this or any other Act) as may appear to the Secretary of State to be necessary.

(3) If any part of a register is not published within the time required by this section, then until the day following that on which it is published the corresponding part of the previous register shall continue in use.

(4) Where any part of the register used at an election is a part continued in force by subsection (3) above, the Representation of the People Acts (including this Act) shall have effect in relation to die election and the area to which that part relates as if the qualifying date by reference to which that part was prepared were the qualifying date for the election.