Supply of free copy of full register for electoral purposes
1.—(1) As soon as practicable after the relevant date, an ERO shall supply free of charge to the returning officer for the local authority or, as the case may be, each local authority for the registration area as many printed copies of—
(a)the latest revised version of the register of electors published under section 13(1) or (3) of the 1983 Act(1), as the case may be;
(b)any notice setting out an alteration to the version of the register of electors published under sections 13A(2), 13AB(2) or 13B(3), (3B) or (3D) of that Act(2); and
(c)any record of anonymous entries,
as the returning officer may reasonably require for the purposes of a Scottish Parliamentary election.
(2) In sub-paragraph (1)—
(a)“relevant date” means—
(i)in the case of a general election of members of the Scottish Parliament, the date of the dissolution of the Parliament as provided for at section 2(3)(a) of the 1998 Act;
(ii)where the Presiding Officer has proposed a day for the holding of the poll under section 2(5) or 3(2) of the 1998 Act, the announcement of Her Majesty’s intention to dissolve the Parliament; or
(iii)the date on which a vacancy occurs in a constituency seat;
(b)the duty to supply as many printed copies of the register and notices as the returning officer may reasonably require includes a duty to supply one copy of each in data form.
(3) The duty under sub-paragraph (1) may be discharged by supplying copies of a consolidated document showing the entries in the version of the register referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(a) as altered by any notice referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(b) and the entries in the record referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(c) together with a copy of that document in data form.
(4) No person to whom a copy of the register of electors, a notice or a record has been supplied under this paragraph may—
(a)supply a copy of that register, that notice or that record to any person;
(b)disclose any information contained in any of them (that is not contained in the edited register); or
(c)make use of any such information,
except for the purposes of an election(3).
Section 13 was substituted by the 2000 Act, Schedule 1, paragraph 6.
Sections 13A and 13B were added by the 2000 Act, Schedule 1, paragraph 6. Section 13AB was added by the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 (c.6), section 16(3). Section 13B was amended by the 2006 Act, section 11(2) to (4).
This is the “permitted purpose” for the purposes of regulation 95(2) of the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (“the 2001 Regulations”), S.I. 2001/497. Regulation 115 of the 2001 Regulations makes provision for offences in respect of contraventions of provisions including regulation 95(2).