Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

House of Commons

Session 2010 - 11
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Other Bills before Parliament

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill
Schedule 2 — Rules for conduct of the referendum
27

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Declaration of referendum result by Chief

Counting Officer

Disposal of documents

49
Sealing up of ballot papers

50
Delivery or retention of documents

5

51
Orders for production of documents

52
Retention and public inspection of documents

Supplementary

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Interpretation

Part 2: Forms referred to in referendum rules
10

Form 1
Form of ballot paper

Form 2
Form of corresponding number list (to be used

if referendum taken alone)

Form 3
Form of postal voting statement

Form 4
Declaration of identity (Northern Ireland)

15

Form 5
Official poll card (to be sent to an elector not

voting by post)

Form 6
Official postal poll card (to be sent to an elector

voting by post)

Form 7
Official proxy poll card (to be sent to an

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appointed proxy voting in person)

Form 8
Official proxy postal poll card (to be sent to an

appointed proxy voting by post)

Form 9
Official poll card (to be sent to an elector in

Northern Ireland not voting by post)

25

Form 10
Official proxy poll card (to be sent to an

appointed proxy voting in person in Northern

Ireland)

Form 11
Form of corresponding number list (to be used

in polling stations if referendum taken alone)

30

Form 12
Form of directions for the guidance of the

voters in voting

Form 13
Form of certificate of employment

Form 14
Form of declaration to be made by the

companion of a voter with disabilities

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Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill
Schedule 2 — Rules for conduct of the referendum
Part 1 — Referendum rules
28

Part 1
Referendum rules
Time
Timetable
1
The proceedings at the referendum are to be conducted in accordance with
5
the following table.

Proceeding
Time

Publication of notice
Not later than the 25th day

of referendum
before the day of the

referendum

10

Notice of poll
Not later than the 15th day

before the day of the

referendum

Hours of polling
Between 7 am and 10 pm on

the day of the referendum

15
Computation of time
2     (1)
In calculating any period of time (other than a year) for the purposes of these
rules the following are to be disregarded—
(a)
Saturdays and Sundays,
(b)
Good Friday and any other day that is a bank holiday under the
20
Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 in any part of the United
Kingdom, and
(c)
any day appointed as a day of public thanksgiving or mourning.
      (2)
In relation to proceedings adjourned by a presiding officer under rule 37
(riot or open violence), the reference in paragraph (1)(b) to a day that is a
25
bank holiday in any part of the United Kingdom is to be read as a reference
to a day that is a bank holiday in the part of the United Kingdom where the
proceedings are adjourned.
General provisions
Notice of referendum
30
3
Each counting officer must give public notice of the referendum stating—
(a)
the date of the poll;
(b)
the date by which—
(i)
applications to vote by post or by proxy, and
(ii)
other applications and notices about postal or proxy voting,
35

must reach the registration officer in order that they may be effective
for the referendum.

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill
Schedule 2 — Rules for conduct of the referendum
Part 1 — Referendum rules
29

Poll to be taken by ballot
4
The votes at the poll are to be given by ballot.
The ballot paper
5     (1)
The ballot of every voter is to consist of a ballot paper, which is to be printed
in the form set out in Form 1 in Part 2 of this Schedule and according to the
5
directions specified in that Part.
      (2)
Each ballot paper—
(a)
must set out the question as specified in section 1;
(b)
must be capable of being folded up;
(c)
must have a number and other unique identifying mark printed on
10
the back.
Corresponding number list
6     (1)
The counting officer must prepare a list containing the numbers and other
unique identifying marks of all of the ballot papers to be—
(a)
issued by the officer in pursuance of rule 12(1), or
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(b)
provided by the officer in pursuance of rule 17(1).
      (2)
The list must be in the form set out in Form 2 in Part 2 of this Schedule.
The official mark
7     (1)
Every ballot paper must contain an appropriate security marking (the
official mark).
20
      (2)
The official mark must be kept secret.
      (3)
The counting officer may use a different official mark for different purposes.
Prohibition of disclosure of vote
8
A person who has voted in the referendum may not be required, in any legal
proceeding to question the referendum, to state for which answer he or she
25
voted.
Use of schools and public rooms
9     (1)
The counting officer may use, free of charge, for the purpose of taking the
poll—
(a)
a room in a school within paragraph (3);
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(b)
a room the expense of maintaining which is met by any local
authority (in England and Wales or Scotland) or is payable out of any
rate (in Northern Ireland).
      (2)
The counting officer must—
(a)
make good any damage done to any such room, and
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(b)
defray any expense incurred by the persons having control over any
such room,

by reason of its being used for that purpose.

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill
Schedule 2 — Rules for conduct of the referendum
Part 1 — Referendum rules
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      (3)
The schools within this paragraph are—
(a)
in England and Wales—
(i)
a school maintained or assisted by a local authority;
(ii)
a school in respect of which grants are made out of moneys
provided by Parliament to the person or body of persons
5
responsible for the management of the school;
(b)
in Scotland, a school that is not an independent school within the
meaning of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980;
(c)
in Northern Ireland, a school in receipt of a grant out of moneys
appropriated by Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly, other
10
than a school that—
(i)
adjoins or is adjacent to a church or other place of worship, or
(ii)
is connected with a nunnery or other religious establishment.
Modification of forms
10    (1)
The Chief Counting Officer may, for the purpose of making a relevant form
15
easier for voters to understand or use, specify modifications that are to be
made to the wording or appearance of the form.
      (2)
In paragraph (1) “relevant form” means any of the following—
(a)
Forms 3 to 10, 12 and 14 in Part 2 of this Schedule;
(b)
the form of the notice set out in rule 17(7).
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      (3)
In this Part of this Act a reference to a form is to be read as a reference to that
form with any modifications specified under paragraph (1).
      (4)
Where a form is modified by virtue of paragraph (1), section 26(2) of the
Welsh Language Act 1993 applies as if the modified form were specified by
this Act.
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Action to be taken before the poll
Notice of poll
11    (1)
The counting officer must give public notice of the poll stating—
(a)
the day and hours fixed for the poll;
(b)
the question that is to appear on the ballot paper.
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      (2)
The notice of the poll must be published not later than the 15th day before
the day of the referendum.
      (3)
No later than the time of the publication of the notice of the poll, the
counting officer must also give public notice of—
(a)
the situation of each polling station;
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(b)
the description of voters entitled to vote there.
      (4)
As soon as practicable after giving the notice under paragraph (3), the
counting officer must give a copy of it to each of the referendum agents
appointed for the officer’s area.
Postal ballot papers
40
12    (1)
The counting officer must, in accordance with the relevant regulations, issue
to those entitled to vote by post—

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill
Schedule 2 — Rules for conduct of the referendum
Part 1 — Referendum rules
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(a)
a ballot paper,
(b)
in the case of those entitled to vote in England and Wales or Scotland,
a postal voting statement in the form set out in Form 3 in Part 2 of this
Schedule, and
(c)
in the case of those entitled to vote in Northern Ireland, a declaration
5
of identity in the form set out in Form 4 in Part 2 of this Schedule,

together with envelopes for their return complying with the requirements
prescribed by the relevant regulations.
      (2)
The counting officer must also issue to those entitled to vote by post
whatever information the officer thinks appropriate about how to obtain—
10
(a)
translations into languages other than English of any directions to, or
guidance for, voters sent with the ballot paper;
(b)
a translation into Braille of those directions or guidance;
(c)
graphical representations of those directions or guidance;
(d)
those directions or guidance in any other form (including any
15
audible form).
      (3)
In the case of a ballot paper issued to a person resident in the United
Kingdom, the counting officer must ensure that the return of the ballot paper
and postal voting statement or declaration of identity is free of charge to the
voter.
20
Provision of polling stations
13    (1)
The counting officer must provide a sufficient number of polling stations
and, subject to the following provisions of this rule, must allot the electors to
the polling stations in whatever manner the officer thinks most convenient.
      (2)
One or more polling stations may be provided in the same room.
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      (3)
In England, the polling station allotted to electors from any parliamentary
polling district wholly or partly within a particular voting area must, in the
absence of special circumstances, be in the parliamentary polling place for
that district unless the parliamentary polling place is outside the voting area.
      (4)
In Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, the polling station allotted to
30
electors from any polling district must be in the polling place for that district.
      (5)
The polling districts and polling places that apply for the purposes of
paragraph (4) are—
(a)
in Wales, those that would apply by virtue of provision made under
section 13(1)(a) of the Government of Wales 2006 in respect of an
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election for membership of the National Assembly for Wales held on
the day of the referendum;
(b)
in Scotland, those that would apply by virtue of provision made
under section 12(1)(a) of the Scotland Act 1998 in respect of an
election for membership of the Scottish Parliament held on the day
40
of the referendum;
(c)
in Northern Ireland, those for the time being established under the
law relating to local elections within the meaning of section 130 of the
Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962.
      (6)
The number of ballot papers counted or votes cast as certified by the Chief
45
Counting Officer or a Regional Counting Officer or counting officer may not
be questioned by reason of—

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill
Schedule 2 — Rules for conduct of the referendum
Part 1 — Referendum rules
32

(a)
any non-compliance with a provision mentioned in sub-paragraph
(a) or (b) of paragraph (5), or
(b)
any informality relative to polling districts or polling places.
      (7)
The counting officer must provide each polling station with however many
compartments are necessary in which the voters can mark their votes
5
screened from observation.
Appointment of presiding officers and clerks
14    (1)
The counting officer must appoint and pay—
(a)
a presiding officer to attend at each polling station;
(b)
however many clerks are necessary for the purposes of the
10
referendum.

But the officer may not employ a person who has been employed by or on
behalf of a permitted participant in or about the referendum.
      (2)
The counting officer may, if the officer thinks fit, preside at a polling station.

The provisions of these rules relating to a presiding officer apply to a
15
counting officer so presiding, with the necessary modifications as to things
to be done by the counting officer to the presiding officer or by the presiding
officer to the counting officer.
      (3)
A presiding officer may do, by the clerks appointed to assist the officer, any
act (including the asking of questions) which the officer is required or
20
authorised by these rules to do at a polling station except order the arrest,
exclusion or removal of a person from the polling station.
Issue of official poll cards
15    (1)
The counting officer must, as soon as practicable after the publication of
notice of the referendum, send to electors and their proxies an official poll
25
card.

This paragraph is subject to paragraphs (2) and (3).
      (2)
An official poll card must not be sent to a person—
(a)
as an elector, if the person is entitled to a postal vote in Northern
Ireland;
30
(b)
as a proxy, if the person is entitled to a proxy postal vote in Northern
Ireland.
      (3)
An official poll card must not be sent to a person registered, or to be
registered, in pursuance of—
(a)
an overseas elector’s declaration, within the meaning of section 2 of
35
the Representation of the People Act 1985 (registration of British
citizens overseas), or
(b)
a declaration made by virtue of subsection (5) of section 3 of that Act
(extension of franchise for European Parliamentary Elections).
      (4)
An elector’s official poll card must be sent or delivered to his or her
40
qualifying address, and a proxy’s to his or her address as shown in the list
of proxies.
      (5)
In the case of an elector who is entitled to vote in the referendum in England
and Wales or Scotland—

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill
Schedule 2 — Rules for conduct of the referendum
Part 1 — Referendum rules
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(a)
an official poll card sent to the elector must be in the form set out in
Form 5 in Part 2 of this Schedule;
(b)
an official postal poll card sent to the elector must be in the form set
out in Form 6 in Part 2 of this Schedule;
(c)
an official poll card sent to the proxy of the elector must be in the
5
form set out in Form 7 in Part 2 of this Schedule;
(d)
an official postal poll card sent to the proxy of the elector must be in
the form set out in Form 8 in Part 2 of this Schedule.
      (6)
In the case of an elector who is entitled to vote in the referendum in Northern
Ireland—
10
(a)
an official poll card sent to the elector must be in the form set out in
Form 9 in Part 2 of this Schedule;
(b)
an official poll card sent to the proxy of the elector must be in the
form set out in Form 10 in Part 2 of this Schedule.
      (7)
An official poll card or official postal poll card may set out whatever
15
information, in addition to that required by virtue of paragraph (5) or (6), the
counting officer thinks appropriate.
      (8)
Different information may be provided in pursuance of paragraph (7) to
different electors or descriptions of elector.
      (9)
In this rule—
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“qualifying address” means the address in respect of which a person is
entitled to be registered on the register of electors;
“elector” includes only those electors who, on the last day for
publication of notice of the referendum, appear on a register to be
used for the referendum.
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Notification that certain electors entitled to absent vote
16    (1)
As soon as practicable after the publication of notice of the referendum, a
registration officer must—
(a)
notify those peers who are within entry 3 or 4 of the table in
paragraph 5(2) or 16(2) of Schedule 3 that they are entitled to vote by
30
post in the referendum;
(b)
notify those electors who are within entry 2, 3 or 4 of the table in
paragraph 5(3) or 16(3) of Schedule 3 that they are entitled to vote by
proxy in the referendum.
      (2)
A notice given to a peer under paragraph (1)(b) must—
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(a)
in the case of a peer within entry 3 of the table, state that the peer’s
entitlement to vote by proxy in the referendum arises by virtue of the
peer’s inclusion in the record kept under paragraph 3 of Schedule 4
to the Representation of the People Act 2000 as voting by proxy at
local government elections;
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(b)
in the case of a peer within entry 4 of that table, state that the peer’s
entitlement to vote by proxy in the referendum arises by virtue of the
peer’s inclusion in the record kept under paragraph 3 of Schedule 2
to the European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/
293) or (as the case may be) regulation 8 of the European
45
Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2004
(S.I. 2008/1741) as voting by proxy.