20.—(1) A referendum under these Regulations may be questioned by petition (“a referendum petition”)—
(a)on the ground that the result of the referendum was not in accordance with the votes cast;
(b)on the ground that the referendum was avoided by such corrupt or illegal practices, within the meaning of the 1983 Act, as are relevant to referendums by virtue of regulation 14 or 18 or paragraph (9),
(c)on the grounds provided by section 164 (avoidance of election for general corruption etc) of the 1983 Act, as applied for the purposes of these Regulations by paragraph (9), or
(d)on the ground that a payment of money or other reward has been made or promised since the referendum in pursuance of a corrupt or illegal practice relevant to the referendum by virtue of regulation 14 or 18 or paragraph (9).
(2) In a case where two or more referendums are held in respect of a precepting authority's relevant basic amount of council tax for the financial year—
(a)references in this regulation and regulations 21 and 22 to a referendum are to be read as references to all of those referendums; and
(b)the reference to the result of the referendum in paragraph (1)(a) is to be read as a reference to the result of the referendums taken together.
(3) A referendum petition on any of the grounds specified in paragraph (1)(a) to (c) must be presented not later than 21 days after the day on which the referendum was held.
(4) A referendum petition on the ground mentioned in paragraph (1)(d) may be presented only with the leave of the High Court.
(5) An application for leave must be made, not later than 28 days after the date of the alleged payment or promise, by application notice to the court at such time and place as the court may appoint.
(6) Not less than seven days before the day so appointed the applicant must—
(a)serve the application notice on the respondent and the Director of Public Prosecutions and lodge a copy in the election petitions office; and
(b)publish notice of the intended application in at least one newspaper circulating in the voting area for the referendum to which the application relates.
(7) The application notice must state the grounds on which the application is made.
(8) A referendum petition is to be tried by an election court, that is to say, a court constituted under section 130 (election court for local election in England and Wales, and place of trial) of the 1983 Act for the trial of an election petition, as applied by paragraph (9).
(9) Schedule 6 contains provisions which have effect in relation to the questioning of a referendum as they have effect in relation to the questioning of an election under the Local Government Act 1972 subject to the modifications specified in that Schedule and to any contrary provision of these Regulations.
(10) The Election Petition Rules 1960 M1 have effect in relation to a referendum petition as they have effect in relation to a local election petition within the meaning of those Rules, subject to the modifications specified in Schedule 7 and to any contrary provision of these Regulations.
Marginal Citations
M1S.I. 1960/543; amended by SI 1985/1278, 1999/1352 and 2003/972.