Schedule 6: Minor and Consequential Amendments
156.This Schedule makes a number of miscellaneous amendments to electoral legislation.
157.Paragraph 1 amends section 8 of the City of London (Various Powers) Act 1957 to reflect the new provisions about disfranchisement and absent voting contained in the Act.
158.Paragraph 2 amends Schedule 2 to the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1978 (as substituted by the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999) to reflect the fact that there will no longer be an electoral register which is published on 16 February and remaining in use for the following year. In future, when the Secretary of State checks to see that the ratio of electors to MEPs in each of the English electoral regions is as even as possible, he will use the electoral registers as they stand at 1 May in the year preceding a European Parliamentary general election.
159.Paragraph 4 extends the power of the Secretary of State to make orders governing charges recoverable by returning officers so as to enable him to make different provision for different cases.
160.Paragraph 5 introduces a new offence of causing or permitting the inclusion of statements or signatures which are known to be false in nomination papers or other documents given to a returning officer for use in connection with an election. It applies to false statements about candidates' names and addresses and to false signatures of persons nominating candidates or signatures that are genuine but where the signatory was unaware of what he or she was signing. The offence applies to all parliamentary elections and to local elections in England and Wales.
161.Paragraph 6 creates a new provision which places a restriction on the results of exit polls being published before the close of poll. The restriction attaches to any statement as to how voters have voted based on information given by voters after they have voted or any forecast of the result based on such information. The offence, which applies to all parliamentary elections and to local elections in England and Wales, is a summary offence punishable by a fine up to the level 5 maximum or up to six months imprisonment.
162.Paragraphs 7 and 8 convert references in the Representation of the People Act 1983 to “dwelling house” into references to “dwelling”.
163.Paragraph 9 amends the interpretation section of the Representation of the People Act 1983 so as to include references to provisions of this Act about absent voting.
164.Paragraph 10 amends the parliamentary elections rules which form Schedule 1 to the Representation of the People Act 1983 so as to allow returning officers to issue postal voters with either prepaid or non-prepaid envelopes in which to return their votes (sub-paragraph (3)) and in Great Britain, but not Northern Ireland, to accept postal votes which (a) are handed in at a polling station or (b) are not accompanied by a declaration of identity, provided that the declaration is also received, albeit under separate cover (sub-paragraph (4)).
165.Paragraph 11 amends the regulation-making powers provided in Schedule 2 to the Representation of the People Act 1983 to take account of the new provisions on postal votes contained in the Act (sub-paragraph (2)); to allow returning officers to issue replacement ballot papers to postal voters in prescribed circumstances (not necessarily in the presence of the candidates and their agents) (sub-paragraph (3)); and to clarify the wording of the power relating to the creation of offences.
166.Paragraph 13 amends section 5 of the Representation of the People Act 1985 (which, as a result of this Act, will apply only in Northern Ireland) so as to provide that detained mental patients and remand prisoners may not vote in person but only by post or proxy.
167.Paragraphs 14 to 18 make minor consequential amendments to reflect the fact that sections 6 to 9 of the 1985 Act will, in future, like section 5, not to apply to absent voting at parliamentary or local elections in England, Wales and Scotland.
168.Paragraph 19 amends section 200 of the Finance Act 1996 so as to reflect the new provisions about registration contained in this Act.
