Session 2012 - 13
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Other Bills before Parliament


 
 

149

 

House of Commons

 
 

Wednesday 27 June 2012

 

Committee of the whole House

 

New Amendments handed in are marked thus Parliamentary Star

 

Electoral Registration and Administration Bill


 

Note

 

The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order of the House

 

[23 May 2012].

 


 

Mr Wayne David

 

Angela Smith

 

26

 

Clause  10,  page  7,  line  34,  at end insert ‘, with the exception of an order made

 

under section 6(2)’.

 


 

Wayne David

 

Angela Smith

 

39

 

Schedule  4,  page  21,  line  23,  leave out sub-paragraph (2).

 

Mr Mark Williams

 

35

 

Schedule  4,  page  21,  line  23,  leave out ‘, so far as is reasonably practicable,’.

 

Member’s explanatory statement

 

The amendment makes registration officers subject to the test of taking ‘all steps that are

 

necessary’ under section 9A of the 1983 Act, in respect of their new duty: ‘securing that persons

 

who are entitled to be registered in a register (and no others) are registered in it.’.

 

Wayne David

 

Angela Smith

 

37

 

Schedule  4,  page  21,  line  26,  at end insert—

 

    ‘(4)  

In subsection (2), after paragraph (e), insert—


 
 

Committee of the whole House: 27 June 2012              

150

 

Electoral Registration and Administration Bill, continued

 
 

“(f)    

reporting to the police any suspicion he might have that an

 

offence had been committed relevant to the integrity of

 

registration and absent vote applications.”.’.

 

Wayne David

 

Angela Smith

 

40

 

Schedule  4,  page  21,  line  26,  at end insert—

 

‘(4)    

At the end of subsection (3) insert—

 

“(4)    

If the Electoral Commission judges that registration officers have not

 

taken all necessary steps as outlined in this section, the Electoral

 

Commission shall have the power to intervene.”.’.

 


 

Wayne David

 

Angela Smith

 

38

 

Clause  15,  page  9,  line  12,  at end insert—

 

‘(1A)    

In section 13(4), at end add “provided that the registration officer shall not make

 

any such changes if an election specified in section 13B(4) is scheduled to take

 

place within 30 days of publication of the revised version of the register.”.’.

 


 

REMAINING NEW CLAUSES

 

Personation

 

John Hemming

 

NC1

 

To move the following Clause:—

 

‘In section 60 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (Personation) after

 

subsection (2) insert—

 

“(2A)    

The Secretary of State shall introduce regulations by statutory instrument

 

to facilitate actions by electoral registration officers, their agents and

 

others, including candidates and their agents in elections, to—

 

(a)    

prevent, and

 

(b)    

detect personation.”.’.

 

Member’s explanatory statement

 

This Clause would enable action to be taken to prevent or deter personation.

 



 
 

Committee of the whole House: 27 June 2012              

151

 

Electoral Registration and Administration Bill, continued

 
 

Other voting offences

 

John Hemming

 

NC2

 

To move the following Clause:—

 

‘In section 61 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (Other voting

 

offences) after subsection (6) insert—

 

“(6AA)    

The Secretary of State shall introduce regulations by statutory

 

instruments to facilitate actions by electoral registration officers, their

 

agents and others, including candidates and their agents in elections, to—

 

(a)    

prevent, and

 

(b)    

detect the offences listed in subsections (1) to (6).”.’.

 

Member’s explanatory statement

 

This Clause would enable action to be taken to prevent or deter other voting offences.

 


 

Representation of the People Act 1985 (Amendment)

 

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

 

Tony Baldry

 

Mr Gary Streeter

 

Mr Robert Buckland

 

Mr Robert Walter

 

Mr Greg Knight

 

NC3

 

To move the following Clause:—

 

‘(1)    

The Representation of the People Act 1985 is amended as follows.

 

(2)    

In section 1 (Extension of parliamentary franchise) omit subsections (3)(c) and

 

(4)(a).

 

(3)    

In section 3 (Extension of franchise for European Parliamentary elections) omit

 

subsections (3)(c) and (4)(a).’.

 

Member’s explanatory statement

 

Currently, British citizens can qualify as overseas electors only if they have been resident in the

 

United Kingdom within the previous 15 years. This also applies to Members of the House of Lords

 

for European Parliamentary elections. This amendment would remove this qualifying period, so

 

that British citizens could qualify as overseas electors even if they had ceased to be resident in the

 

United Kingdom more than 15 years before.

 



 
 

Committee of the whole House: 27 June 2012              

152

 

Electoral Registration and Administration Bill, continued

 
 

Voting procedure

 

Mrs Eleanor Laing

 

Meg Munn

 

Mr David Blunkett

 

Bob Blackman

 

Mr Clive Betts

 

Meg Hillier

 

Wayne David                        

Angela Smith

 

Mr John Leech

 

NC4

 

To move the following Clause:—

 

‘(1)    

Schedule 1 to the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) (parliamentary

 

elections rules) is amended as follows.

 

(2)    

In rule 37 (voting procedure) after paragraph (6) insert—

 

“(7)    

A voter who is in the polling station or in a queue outside the polling

 

station for the purpose of voting at the time specified for the close of the

 

poll shall be entitled to apply for a ballot paper under paragraph 1 above

 

and a ballot paper shall be delivered and the voter entitled to vote in

 

accordance with this rule.”.’.

 

Member’s explanatory statement

 

Currently, voters who are in a queue at a polling station at 10 pm but who have not yet been issued

 

with their ballot paper are unable to cast their vote. This amendment would allow for ballot papers

 

to be issued to any registered voter who is in the polling station or in a queue outside the polling

 

station at 10 pm, in order that they may then cast their vote.

 


 

Explicit right of British citizens to register to vote and to participate in elections

 

Mr Richard Shepherd

 

Mr Philip Hollobone

 

James Wharton

 

Karl McCartney

 

Mr Stewart Jackson

 

NC5

 

To move the following Clause:—

 

‘(1)    

The Representation of the People Act 1983 is amended as follows—

 

(2)    

Insert “a British citizen,”

 

(a)    

in section 1 (parliamentary electors), in subsection (1)(c), after “either”,

 

(b)    

in section 2 (local government electors), in subsection (1)(C), after “is”,

 

(c)    

in section 4 (entitlement to be registered as parliamentary or local

 

government elector), in subsection (1)(c), after “either”,

 

(d)    

in section 4, subsection (3)(c), after “is”, and


 
 

Committee of the whole House: 27 June 2012              

153

 

Electoral Registration and Administration Bill, continued

 
 

(e)    

in section 7B, subsection (3)(e), after “is”, in the first place it occurs.’.

 

Member’s explanatory statement

 

British citizens are currently enfranchised in statute as Commonwealth citizens, not British

 

citizens. This amendment is to introduce a statutory entitlement for British citizens to be

 

enfranchised as British citizens.

 


 

Ring-fencing of funds provided to local authorities for use by electoral registration

 

officers

 

Mr Mark Williams

 

NC6

 

Parliamentary Star    

To move the following Clause:—

 

‘Funds provided to local authorities for use by electoral registration officers in

 

respect of their obligations under Part 1 of this Act shall be used only for the

 

fulfilment of those obligations and for their compliance with the duties set out in

 

section 9A of the 1983 Act, as amended by Schedule 4 to this Act, and not for any

 

other purpose.’.

 

Member’s explanatory statement

 

The New Clause aims to ensure that funds provided to local authorities for their electoral

 

registration functions are ring-fenced for that purpose.

 


 

Wayne David

 

Angela Smith

 

41

 

Clause  23,  page  14,  line  6,  leave out from ‘means’ to end of line 11 and insert ‘the

 

Secretary of State’.

 


 

Mr Wayne David

 

Angela Smith

 

30

 

Clause  25,  page  14,  line  17,  at end insert—

 

‘(1A)    

Before making an order under subsection 1, the Secretary of State must seek the

 

views of the Electoral Commission as to whether the establishment of an electoral

 

register made up solely of electors who have registered individually would help

 

or hinder the achievement of the registration objectives.

 

(1B)    

For these purposes the registration objectives are to secure, so far as is reasonably

 

practicable—

 

(a)    

that persons who are entitled to be registered in a register are registered

 

in it,

 

(b)    

that persons who are not entitled to be registered in a register are not

 

registered in it, and

 

(c)    

that none of the information relating to a registered person that appears

 

in a register or other record kept by a registration officer is false.


 
 

Committee of the whole House: 27 June 2012              

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Electoral Registration and Administration Bill, continued

 
 

(1C)    

The Commission must submit its assessment, with a recommendation, in a report

 

to the Secretary of State, which must be laid before Parliament as soon as possible

 

by the Secretary of State.

 

(1D)    

If—

 

(a)    

the recommendation in the Electoral Commission’s report is that the

 

establishment of an electoral register made up solely of electors who have

 

registered individually would help the achievement of the registration

 

objectives, and

 

(b)    

the recommendation is approved by a resolution of each House of

 

Parliament,

 

    

the Secretary of State may make an order bringing Parts 1 and 2 of this Act into

 

force.

 

(1E)    

The Secretary of State may not make such an order if those conditions are not met.

 

(1F)    

If—

 

(a)    

the Electoral Commission’s report does not contain a recommendation to

 

proceed to establish an electoral register made up solely of electors who

 

have registered individually, or

 

(b)    

the report does contain such a recommendation, but it is not approved by

 

a resolution of each House of Parliament,

 

    

within 12 months after the day on which the report is submitted by the Electoral

 

Commission (in the case mentioned in paragraph (a)) or disapproved in

 

Parliament (in the case mentioned in paragraph (b)), the Secretary of State must

 

require the Commission to submit, by a specified date, a further report under this

 

section containing the terms mentioned in subsection (1A).

 

(1G)    

For the purposes of subsection (1F)—

 

(a)    

a report is disapproved in Parliament when either House decided against

 

resolving to approve the report (or, if both Houses so decide on different

 

days, when the first of them so decides);

 

(b)    

the date specified by the Secretary of State must be at least one year, but

 

no more than two years, after the day on which the requirement under that

 

subsection is imposed.’.

 

Mr Wayne David

 

Angela Smith

 

31

 

Clause  25,  page  14,  line  17,  at end insert ‘with the exception of Schedule 5, Part 2,

 

which shall come into force by order only once—

 

(a)    

the data matching pilots for pre-verification purposes established by the

 

Electoral Registration Data Schemes Order 2012 have been completed,

 

(b)    

the Electoral Commission has reported on these schemes as under the

 

terms of that Order, and

 

(c)    

the Electoral Commission believes that the completeness of the register

 

will not be negatively affected.’.

 

Wayne David

 

Angela Smith

 

43

 

Clause  25,  page  14,  line  17,  at end insert—

 

‘(1A)    

Parts 1 and 2 of this Act may not come into force until a timetable for the

 

provisions of orders made by Statutory Instrument is published.’.


 
 

Committee of the whole House: 27 June 2012              

155

 

Electoral Registration and Administration Bill, continued

 
 

Wayne David

 

Angela Smith

 

42

 

Clause  25,  page  14,  line  20,  leave out from ‘purposes’ to end of the line.

 

 

Order of the House [23 May]

 

That the following provisions shall apply to the Electoral Registration and

 

Administration Bill:

 

Commital

 

1.    

The Bill shall be committed to a Committee of the whole House.

 

Proceedings in Committee, on consideration and Third Reading

 

2.    

Proceedings in Committee, any proceedings on consideration and

 

proceedings on Third Reading shall be completed in three days.

 

3.    

The proceedings shall be taken on the days shown in the first column of the

 

following Table and in the order so shown.

 

4.    

The proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a

 

conclusion at the times specified in the second column of the Table.

 

        TABLE

 

Proceedings

Time for conclusion of proceedings

 
 

First and second days

 
 

Clause 1, Schedule 1, Clause 2,

The moment of interruption on the

 
 

Schedule 2, Clauses 3 and 4,

second day.

 
 

Clauses 6 to 9, Clause 5,

  
 

Schedules 3 and 5.

  
 

Third day

  
 

Clauses 10 to 12, Schedule 4, new

Two hours before the moment of

 
 

Clauses relating to Part 1, new

interruption on the third day.

 
 

Schedules relating to Part 1,

  
 

Clauses 13 to 21, remaining new

  
 

Clauses, remaining new

  
 

Schedules, Clauses 22 to 26,

  
 

remaining proceedings in

  
 

Committee, any proceedings on

  
 

consideration.

  
 

Proceedings on Third Reading.

The moment of interruption on the

 
  

third day.

 
 

5.    

Standing Order No. 83B (Programming committees) shall not apply to

 

proceedings in Committee, to any proceedings on consideration or to

 

proceedings on Third Reading.


 
contents continue
 

© Parliamentary copyright
Revised 27 June 2012