Representation of the People Act 1983

Conveyance of voters to and from poll

101 No hiring of vehicles to convey voters

(1) A person shall not let, lend, or employ any public vehicle for the purpose of the conveyance of electors or their proxies to or from the poll at an election, and if he does so knowing that the public vehicle is intended to be used for that purpose he shall be guilty of an illegal hiring.

(2) A person shall not hire, borrow or use for the purpose of the conveyance of electors or their proxies to or from the poll at an election any public vehicle the owner of which he knows to be prohibited by subsection (1) above from letting, lending or employing for that purpose, and if he does so he shall be guilty of an illegal hiring.

(3) In this section " public vehicle " means any public stage or hackney carriage or any carriage kept or used for the purpose of letting out for hiring.

102 No payments for conveyance of voters

If any payment or contract for payment is knowingly made, either before, during or after an election, for the purpose of promoting or procuring the election of a candidate on account of the conveyance of electors or their proxies to or from the poll, whether for the hire of carriages, or for railway fares, or otherwise—

(a) the person making the payment or contract, and

(b) if he knew it to be in contravention of this Act, any person receiving the payment or being a party to the contract,

shall be guilty of an illegal practice.

103 Provisions supplemental to ss. 101 and 102

(1) Nothing in sections 101 and 102 above prevents a carriage being let, hired, employed or used by an elector or his proxy or several electors or their proxies at their joint cost, for the purpose of being conveyed to or from the poll.

(2) No person shall be liable to pay any duty or to take out a licence for any carriage by reason only of the carriage being used without payment or promise of payment for the conveyance of electors or their proxies to or from the poll.

104 " Carriage " in ss. 101 to 103

In sections 101 to 103 above—

(a) " carriage " includes for the purposes of those sections—

(i) any mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads, and

(ii) any vehicle drawn by such a vehicle,

and any such vehicle as so described shall be deemed to be a public vehicle for the purposes of section 101 if used as such; and

(b) the provisions of those sections, except section 103(2), apply in relation to horses or other animals as they apply in relation to carriages, and any reference in section 101 to a public vehicle includes a reference to horses or other animals kept or used for drawing such vehicles.

105 Access to polling place by sea

(1) Where the nature of a county constituency is such that any electors or proxies for electors resident there are unable at a parliamentary election for that constituency to reach their polling place without crossing the sea or a branch or arm of the sea, nothing in this Act prevents the provision of means for conveying those electors or proxies by sea to their polling place,

(2) The amount of any payment for such means of conveyance as are mentioned in subsection (1) above may be in addition to the maximum amount of expenses allowed by this Act.

(3) No restriction on the expenses to be incurred by a returning officer shall prevent a returning officer employing special steamers or boats for the purposes of a parliamentary election in any constituency in Scotland having a polling place or polling places so situated as not to be accessible except by sea, but the expenses so incurred shall be included in the returning officer's account, and shall be subject to taxation.