The Recall of MPs Act 2015 (Recall Petition) Regulations 2016

Absent signing at any petition for an indefinite period: Northern Ireland

52.—(1) Where a person applies to the registration officer to sign any petition by post or by proxy, for an indefinite period, the registration officer must grant the application (subject to paragraph (8)) if—

(a) the officer is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to sign a petition by virtue of section 10 of the Act;

(b) the officer is satisfied that the applicant has not signed the petition at the petition signing place allotted to that person under regulation 16;

(c) the application states the applicant’s date of birth and the registration officer is satisfied that the date stated corresponds with the date supplied as the date of the applicant’s birth pursuant to section 10(4A)(b), 10A(1A)(b) or 13A(2A)(b) of the 1983 Act;

(d) the application is signed and (unless section 10(4B), 10A(1B) or 13A(2B) of the 1983 Act applies) the registration officer is satisfied that the signature on the application corresponds with the signature supplied as the applicant’s signature pursuant to section 10(4A)(a), 10A(1A)(a) or 13A(2A)(a) of the 1983 Act;

(e) the application either states the applicant’s national insurance number or states that the applicant does not have one, and the registration officer is satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (2) below;

(f) the application meets the requirements of Chapter 2 of this Part; and

(g) in the case of an application to sign the petition by proxy, the officer is satisfied that the applicant is eligible (in accordance with paragraph (4)) to sign the petition by proxy for an indefinite period.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(e), the registration officer must be satisfied—

(a) if the application states a national insurance number, that the requirements of paragraph (3) below are met; or

(b) if the application states that the applicant does not have a national insurance number, that no such number was supplied as the applicant’s national insurance number pursuant to section 10(4A)(c)(i), 10A(1A)(c)(i) or 13A(2A)(c)(i) of the 1983 Act.

(3) The requirements of this paragraph are met if—

(a) the number stated as mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) is the same as the one supplied as the applicant’s national insurance number pursuant to section 10(4A)(c)(i), 10A(1A)(c)(i) or 13A(2A)(c)(i) of the 1983 Act; or

(b) no national insurance number was supplied under any of those provisions, but the registration officer is not aware of any reason to doubt the authenticity of the application.

(4) For the purposes of this regulation, a person is eligible to sign a petition by proxy for an indefinite period if that person—

(a) is or will be registered as a service voter;

(b) has an anonymous entry in the register of electors for a parliamentary election;

(c) cannot reasonably be expected—

(i) to go in person to the signing place allotted or likely to be allotted to them under regulation 16 (allotment of petition signing places), or

(ii) to sign the petition unaided there,

by reason of blindness or other disability;

(d) cannot reasonably be expected to go in person to that petition signing place by reason of the general nature of their occupation, service or employment or that of their spouse or civil partner or by reason of their attendance on a course provided by an educational institution or that of their spouse or civil partner;

(e) cannot go in person from their qualifying address to that petition signing place without making a journey by air or sea; or

(f) is or will be registered in the register of parliamentary electors in pursuance of an overseas electors declaration.

(5) The registration officer must keep a record of those whose applications under this regulation have been granted showing—

(a) in the case of those who may sign a petition by post, the addresses provided by them in their applications as the addresses to which their signing sheets are to be sent, and

(b) in the case of those who may sign a petition by proxy, the names and addresses of those appointed as their proxies.

(6) The registration officer must remove a person from the record kept under paragraph (5)—

(a) if that person applies to the registration officer to be removed;

(b) in the case of a person who is eligible to sign the petition by proxy by virtue of having an anonymous entry, if that person ceases to have an anonymous entry;

(c) in the case of any person registered in the register of parliamentary electors, if that person ceases to be registered or registered at the same qualifying address; or

(d) if the registration officer gives notice that he or she has reason to believe there has been a material change of circumstances.

(7) A person shown in the record kept under paragraph (5) as being eligible to sign a petition by post or by proxy (as the case may be) may subsequently alter their choice (subject to paragraph (8)) on an application to the registration officer that meets the requirements of Chapter 2 of this Part and the registration officer must amend the record accordingly.

(8) A person applying to sign a petition by post must provide an address in the United Kingdom as the address to which that person’s signing sheet is to be sent.