Schedule 4: Absent Voting
131.This Schedule makes provision for absent voting at parliamentary and local government elections in Great Britain. Absent voting at parliamentary elections in Northern Ireland continues to be provided for by sections 5 to 9 of the Representation of the People Act 1985. Absent voting at local elections there is provided for by subordinate legislation.
132.Paragraph 1 provides for the Schedule to have effect as if it were part of the Representation of the People Act 1983.
133.Paragraph 2, sub-paragraphs (1) to (4) provides that electors may vote in person, by post or by proxy. An elector entitled to vote by proxy may, however, vote in person if he gets to the polling station before his proxy.
134.Sub-paragraph (5) provides that police officers and others involved in the running of the election may, if they cannot get to their normal polling station, vote at any other polling station in the constituency or electoral area.
135.Sub-paragraph (6) provides that detained mental patients and remand prisoners must vote either by post or by proxy.
136.Paragraph 3 sets out the conditions which must be satisfied if an application for an absent vote (for either a definite or an indefinite period) is to be granted.
137.For a postal vote (sub-paragraph 1) the only condition is that the person concerned must be on the electoral register and that the procedural requirements of regulations (for example, about time) are complied with. Accordingly, most of the conditions which currently apply are abolished.
138.For a proxy vote the conditions are set out in sub-paragraphs (2) and (3). As at present service and overseas voters are entitled to a proxy vote, as are people who cannot get to the polling station because of a disability, by reason of their employment, or because they would have to travel by sea or air to get there. In addition those who are unable to vote in person because of attendance, or a spouse's attendance, at an educational establishment may obtain a proxy vote.
139.Sub-paragraphs (4) and (5) require the registration officer to keep an up to date record of those electors whose applications for absent votes have been granted, including, as appropriate, the addresses to which postal votes are to be sent or the names and addresses of people appointed as proxies. The existing requirement that the address must be in the United Kingdom has been dropped.
140.Sub-paragraphs (6) and (7) set out the conditions under which a person with a postal vote may alter his choice so as to vote by proxy, and vice versa.
141.Paragraph 4 makes similar provision in respect of absent votes at a particular election. For postal votes (sub-paragraph (1)) the position is the same as for postal votes for a definite or indefinite period (see paragraph 3(1)).
142.Sub-paragraph (2) provides that an application to vote by proxy at a particular election is to be granted if the person in question cannot reasonably be expected to vote in person on the day of the poll.
143.Sub-paragraph (3) allows a person who already has a postal vote to alter the address to which his ballot paper is sent or, provided he satisfies the same conditions as other proxy voters (sub-paragraph (4)), to vote by proxy instead. The existing requirement that the address must be in the United Kingdom has been dropped.
144.Paragraph 5 requires the registration officer to keep, for each election, an absent voters list (sub-paragraph (1)) made up of two parts. The first part (sub-paragraph (2)) lists those who have applied for and been granted postal votes for that election, for a definite period covering the election or for an indefinite period, together with the addresses to which ballot papers are to be sent. The second part (sub-paragraph (3)) is a similar list in respect of proxy voters and the names and addresses of their proxies.
145.Paragraph 6 deals with the appointment of proxies. It provides (sub-paragraph (2)) that an elector may only appoint one proxy at a time, that only Commonwealth citizens and citizens of the Republic of Ireland aged 18 or more may be appointed (citizens of a member state of the European Union may be appointed to vote at local government elections), and that anyone subject to a legal incapacity to vote may not be appointed (sub-paragraphs (3) to (5)).
146.Sub-paragraph (6) provides that a person may not vote as a proxy in the same constituency (or electoral area) at an election on behalf of more than two electors to whom he is not closely related.
147.Sub-paragraph (7) requires a registration officer to appoint as proxy, for a definite or indefinite period, the person nominated by an elector provided that the elector is on his register and his list of proxy voters and that the proxy is able and willing to take on the appointment. Sub-paragraph (8) makes similar provision in respect of a particular election.
148.Sub-paragraph (10) provides for the cancellation of a proxy’s appointment by the elector, and for an appointment to cease to be in force where a new proxy is appointed or where the period for which the proxy was appointed expires.
149.Sub-paragraph (11) provides that, unless the appointment has been cancelled or has ceased to be in force, it remains in force for the election or the definite or indefinite period for which it was made.
150.Paragraph 7 enables a proxy to vote either in person at the polling station allotted to the elector for whom he is acting as proxy or, on application, by post (sub-paragraphs (1) to (5)).
151.Sub-paragraphs (6) to (8) require the registration officer to keep a record of proxies whose applications to vote by post for a definite or indefinite period have been granted, and to keep a special list for each particular election of proxies who have postal votes. In both cases the addresses to which their ballot papers are to be sent are also to be listed. The existing requirement that the addresses must be within the United Kingdom has been dropped.
152.Sub-paragraph (9) requires the registration officer to remove a person from the record of proxies with postal votes for a definite or indefinite, period on application, if the proxy appointment comes to an end or if the elector ceases to be registered an elector.
153.Paragraph 8 makes it an offence for anyone to make a false statement in connection with an application for an absent vote or to attest an application for an absent vote when he knows he is not authorised to do so. The offence is summary and is punishable by a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale of fines.
