Section 9A (registration officers: duty to take necessary steps)
3.—(1) Section 9A(1) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (2)—
(a)after paragraph (za) insert—
“(zb)for the purposes of a register maintained by the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland under section 9—
(i)no earlier than 1 July in a year in which a canvass under section 10 is conducted, sending to any address a notice that includes the following information—
(aa)details of the canvass, including any time by which the form to be used for the purposes of the canvass is to be submitted,
(bb)an invitation to submit that form through the UK digital service, and
(cc)instructions on how to do so;
(ii)at any time after sending the notices under sub-paragraph (i), sending the form to be used for the purposes of the canvass to any non-responding registered person;”;
(b)omit paragraph (a).
(3) After subsection (3) insert—
“(4) In this section—
“non-responding registered person”, in relation to a canvass, means a person who—
is registered in a register in respect of an address in Northern Ireland, and
has not responded to the canvass;
“the UK digital service” has the same meaning as in section 10ZF below, and references to submitting a form through the UK digital service shall be construed in accordance with subsection (4) of that section.”.
Section 9A was inserted by section 9(1) of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (c. 22); amended by paragraph 6 of Schedule 4 to the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 (c. 6); amended by section 18(3) of the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 (c. 13); extended to Northern Ireland by section 18(1)(a) of that Act; and amended by S.I.s 2019/1451 and 2020/50 (W.6). S.S.I. 2020/62 will amend section 9A when it comes into force on 3 March 2020.