Electoral Administration Act 2006

Electoral Administration Act 2006

2006 CHAPTER 22

Commentary on Sections

Part 7: Regulation of parties

Registration of parties

Section 48 Registered names of parties

271. This section amends section 28 of the 2000 Act (Registration of parties), by inserting new subsection (4)(da). The effect of this amendment is to enable the Electoral Commission to refuse to register a political party where the party proposes a name which, if it were to appear on a ballot paper, would be likely to:

• mislead an elector as to the effect of his vote (for example, a party name such as “Abstain from Voting” could lead a voter to believe that by placing his mark in the box next to the party name, he would be indicating his intention to abstain); or

• adversely affect an elector’s understanding of any directions given on the ballot paper or elsewhere which are provided for his guidance in voting (for example, a party name such as “Place Your X Here” might be taken by a voter to be a direction and could, therefore, conflict with the direction which appears on the ballot paper: “vote for one candidate only”).