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SCHEDULE 3
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AMENDMENTS OF THE REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACTS |
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Preliminary |
| | 1. The Representation of the People Act 1983 shall be amended as follows.
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Polling districts and stations |
| | 2. - (1) Section 31 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) After subsection (1A) there shall be inserted-
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"(1B) For any Authority elections, a London borough council or the Common Council may divide their area into polling districts and may alter any polling district.
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For the purposes of this subsection the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple shall be treated as forming part of the City."
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Returning officers for Greater London and for Assembly constituencies |
| | 3. - (1) Section 35 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) Before subsection (3) there shall be inserted-
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"(2A) Subsections (2B) and (2C) below have effect in relation to the Greater London Authority.
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(2B) The returning officer at an election of a constituency member of the London Assembly shall be such a person, or a person of such a description, as may be designated by the Secretary of State in an order made by statutory instrument.
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(2C) The returning officer-
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(a) at any election of the Mayor of London, |
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(b) at the election of the London members of the London Assembly at an ordinary election, and |
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(c) for the purposes of section 11 of the 1999 Act (return of London members of the London Assembly otherwise than at an election), |
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shall be the proper officer of the Greater London Authority."
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(3) After subsection (5) there shall be inserted-
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"(6) The council for any London borough shall place the services of its officers at the disposal of any person acting as the returning officer at an Authority election for an electoral area situated wholly or partly in the borough."
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Rules for local elections |
| | 4. - (1) Section 36 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) After subsection (2) (which requires rules under the section to apply the parliamentary elections rules with adaptations etc) there shall be inserted-
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"(2A) As regards the Greater London Authority-
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(a) Authority elections, and |
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(b) the return of London members of the London Assembly otherwise than at an election, |
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shall be conducted in accordance with rules made under this subsection by the Secretary of State.
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Rules made under this subsection need not comply with the requirements of subsection (2) above.
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(2B) As regards lists of candidates submitted under paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 to the 1999 Act (election of London members), the provision that may be made by rules under subsection (2A) above includes provision for or in connection with any of the following-
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(a) the inclusion, withdrawal, addition or removal of persons; |
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(b) cases where a person included in such a list is or becomes, or seeks to become, an individual candidate to be a London member of the London Assembly." |
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(3) Before subsection (5) there shall be inserted-
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"(4B) All expenditure properly incurred by a returning officer in relation to the holding of an Authority election shall, in so far as it does not, in cases where there is a scale fixed for the purposes of this section by the Greater London Authority, exceed that scale, be paid by the Greater London Authority."
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(4) After subsection (6) (power of council for local government area to advance sums to returning officer before poll at election) there shall be inserted-
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"(6A) Subsection (6) above shall apply in relation to an Authority election as it applies in relation to an election of a councillor for any local government area in England and Wales, but taking the reference to the council of the area as a reference to the Greater London Authority."
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Ordinary day of local elections |
| | 5. - (1) Section 37 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) At the beginning there shall be inserted "(1)".
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(3) The subsection (1) so formed shall end with paragraph (b).
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(4) At the beginning of the sentence following paragraph (b) there shall be inserted "(3)".
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(5) After the subsection (1) formed by sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) above there shall be inserted-
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"(2) As respects Authority elections, the power conferred by subsection (1)(b) above shall include power to make an order fixing a day other than the first Thursday in May as the day on which the poll is to be held at an ordinary election other than the first."
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Local elections void etc |
| | 6. - (1) Section 39 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) In subsection (1) (returning officer to order election to fill vacancy where poll countermanded or abandoned or vacancies remain unfilled) for "an election of a councillor for a local government area" there shall be substituted "a local government election, other than an election for the return of the London members of the London Assembly,".
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(3) In subsection (2) (election to an office under the 1972 Act not held on the appointed day etc) after "office under the Local Government Act 1972" there shall be inserted "or the 1999 Act".
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(4) In subsection (6)(a) (which permits an order under the section to make modifications to certain enactments) in sub-paragraph (ii), after "the Local Government Act 1972" there shall be inserted "or the 1999 Act".
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Timing as to local elections |
| | 7. - (1) Section 40 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) In subsection (1) (provision where anything required to be done by certain enactments falls at a weekend etc) after "Representation of the People Act 1985" there shall be inserted "or section 3 of the 1999 Act".
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(3) In subsection (2) (day to which election is postponed treated as day of election for purposes of certain enactments) after "Local Government Act 1972" there shall be inserted "and (in the case of an Authority election) the 1999 Act".
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Further provision as to local election voting |
| | 8. - (1) Section 46 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) In subsection (1) (which makes provision as to the number of votes which a person may give in a local government election) after paragraph (b) there shall be added-
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| " but this subsection does not apply in relation to Authority elections (where the votes allowed to be given are as specified in the applicable provisions of section 4, 10 or 16 of the 1999 Act)."
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Validity of local expenses, legal costs |
| | 9. - (1) Section 48 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) After subsection (3) (which refers to the council required to pay the expenses properly incurred by a returning officer) there shall be inserted-
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"(3A) In the application of subsection (3) above in relation to an Authority election, the Greater London Authority shall be treated as the council which is required to pay the expenses properly incurred by the returning officer."
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Voting offences |
| | 10. - (1) Section 61 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) After subsection (2) (person voting as elector otherwise than by proxy) there shall be inserted-
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"(2A) In the case of Authority elections, paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above shall not have effect; but a person shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection if he votes as an elector otherwise than by proxy-
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(a) more than once at the same election of the Mayor of London; |
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(b) more than once at the same election of the London members of the London Assembly at an ordinary election; |
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(c) more than once in the same Assembly constituency at the same election of a constituency member of the London Assembly; |
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(d) in more than one Assembly constituency at the same ordinary election; or |
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(e) in any Assembly constituency at an ordinary election, or an election of the Mayor of London held under section 16 of the 1999 Act, when there is in force an appointment of a person to vote as his proxy at the election in some other Assembly constituency." |
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(3) After subsection (3) (person voting as proxy for the same elector) there shall be inserted-
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"(3A) In the case of Authority elections, paragraph (a) of subsection (3) above shall not have effect; but a person shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection if he votes as proxy for the same elector-
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(a) more than once at the same election of the Mayor of London; |
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(b) more than once at the same election of the London members of the London Assembly at an ordinary election; |
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(c) more than once in the same Assembly constituency at the same election of a constituency member of the London Assembly; or |
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(d) in more than one Assembly constituency at the same ordinary election." |
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Requirement of secrecy |
| | 11. - (1) Section 66 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) After subsection (6) there shall be added-
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"(7) In their application in relation to an election of the London members of the London Assembly at an ordinary election, the preceding provisions of this section shall have effect with the insertion, after the words "the candidate for whom", in each place where they occur, of ", or the registered political party towards the return of whose candidates,".
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(8) In relation to an election of the London members of the London Assembly at an ordinary election, any reference in this section to the return of a registered political party's candidates is a reference to the return of candidates included in the list of candidates submitted by the registered political party for the purposes of the election."
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