Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013

Forwarding of documents

45 (1) The counting officer must, at the same time as sending the documents mentioned in rule 37 of the conduct rules, send to the proper officer—

(a) any packets referred to in paragraphs 26, 28(7), 29(6), 30(9), 35(11), 41(2)(e) and 44, endorsing on each packet a description of its contents and the date of the referendum, and

(b) a completed statement giving details of postal ballot papers issued, received, counted and rejected in the form prescribed.

(2) Where—

(a) any covering envelopes are received by the counting officer after the close of the poll (apart from those delivered in accordance with the provisions of rule 28 of the conduct rules),

(b) any envelopes addressed to postal voters are returned as undelivered too late to be re-addressed, or

(c) any spoilt postal ballot papers are returned too late to enable other postal ballot papers to be issued,

the counting officer must put them unopened in a separate packet, seal up that packet and endorse and send it at a subsequent date in the manner described in sub-paragraph (1).

(3) Rules 38 and 40 of the conduct rules apply to any packet or document sent under this paragraph as they apply for the purposes of the documents referred to in those rules.

(4) A copy of the statement referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(b) is to be provided by the counting officer to the Electoral Commission.