The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) (Amendment) Order 2008

Requiring personal identifiers from existing absent voters

21.—(1) A registration officer must by 7th April 2008 send a notice in writing to every person whose entry on the absent voting records was made in consequence of an application that did not include a specimen of their signature and their date of birth.

(2) The notice must require the absent voter to provide to the registration officer, within six weeks from the date of sending the notice, a specimen of the absent voter’s signature and the absent voter’s date of birth (“the required personal identifiers”) in accordance with the Part.

(3) The notice must be sent by the registration officer to the current or last known address of the absent voter.

(4) The registration officer must, if the absent voter has not responded to the notice within three weeks from the date on which the notice was sent, as soon as practicable send a copy of the notice to the absent voter.

(5) Where a notice or copy of a notice is sent by post, the registration officer may use–

(a) a universal postal service provider; or

(b) a commercial delivery firm,

and postage shall be prepaid.

(6) A notice or copy of a notice sent to an absent voter in accordance with this Part must be accompanied by a pre-addressed reply envelope and, in the case of any notice sent to an address within the United Kingdom, return postage shall be prepaid.

(7) Where a registration officer has been provided with the required personal identifiers by an applicant for an absent vote under the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001(1) or the Absent Voting (Transitional Provisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2008(2) before the date specified in accordance with article 22(2)(d) of this Order in the notice sent to the absent voter, he or she may use them for the purposes of Scottish Parliamentary elections and records kept in connection with such elections.

(1)

S.I. 2001/497, which was amended by S.I. 2001/1749, 2002/1872, 2003/3075, 2004/1771, 2004/1960, 2006/834 and 2007/925; the S.I. is further amended by S.I. 2008/xxx.

(2)

S.I. 2008/xxx.