Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013

PART 4 Absent voting

Applicant for absent vote must have made successful new application for registration or had registration confirmed

16 (1) For the purposes of an absent voting application made on or after the commencement date, a person is to be regarded as registered in a register in Great Britain only if the person—

(a) was registered in the register immediately before the commencement date and has had his or her entitlement to remain registered confirmed, or

(b) has made a successful new application for registration.

(2) “Absent voting application” means an application under paragraph 3(1) or (2) or 4(1) or (2) of Schedule 4 to the Representation of the People Act 2000.

(3) This paragraph does not apply in relation to a person who is a relevant person for the purposes of Part 5 or 6 of this Schedule.

Entitlement to absent vote ceases after first new canvass if no successful new application for registration or confirmation of registration

17 (1) Sub-paragraph (2) applies if, on the day on which a registration officer in Great Britain publishes a register following the first new canvass—

(a) a person is shown in the absent voters’ record as the result of an application made in reliance on the person’s registration in the register, and

(b) the person was registered in the register immediately before the commencement date and has not had his or her entitlement to remain registered confirmed or made a successful new application for registration in the register.

(2) The officer must remove the person’s entry from the absent voters’ record so far as the entry concerns elections of the kind to which the register relates.

(3) “Absent voters’ record” means the record kept under paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to the Representation of the People Act 2000.

(4) Sub-paragraph (5) applies if, on the day on which a registration officer in Great Britain publishes a register following the first new canvass—

(a) a person is shown in an absent voters’ list as the result of an application made in reliance on the person’s registration in the register, and

(b) the person was registered in the register immediately before the commencement date and has not had his or her entitlement to remain registered confirmed or made a successful new application for registration in the register.

(5) The officer must remove the person’s entry from the absent voters’ list.

(6) “Absent voters’ list” means the list mentioned in paragraph 5(2) or (3) of Schedule 4 to the Representation of the People Act 2000.

(7) If a registration officer removes a person’s entry from an absent voters’ record or list, the officer must—

(a) notify the person in the prescribed manner, and

(b) take any other prescribed steps.

(8) This paragraph does not apply in relation to a person who is a relevant person for the purposes of Part 5 or 6 of this Schedule.

Proxies to have made successful new application for registration or had registration confirmed

18 A person is to be regarded as registered in a register in Great Britain for the purposes of paragraph 6(3) or (3A) of Schedule 4 to the Representation of the People Act 2000 (as substituted by section 3 of this Act) only if the person—

(a) was registered in the register immediately before the commencement date and has had his or her entitlement to remain registered confirmed, or

(b) has made a successful new application for registration.

Proxy for existing absent voter need not have made successful new application for registration or had registration confirmed until after first new canvass

19 (1) The amendment made by section 3 (read with paragraph 18 above) does not apply in relation to a proxy appointment for an existing absent voter (or the proxy’s entitlement to vote) until the registration officer who made the appointment publishes the relevant register following the first new canvass.

(2) In this paragraph—

(a) “proxy appointment” means an appointment of a person as proxy under paragraph 6(7) or (8) of Schedule 4 to the Representation of the People Act 2000 (whether made before, on or after the commencement date);

(b) “existing absent voter”, in relation to a proxy appointment, means a person whose absent voting application was made before the commencement date;

(c) “absent voting application” means the application under paragraph 3(2) or 4(2) or (3) of Schedule 4 to the Representation of the People Act 2000 by virtue of which the proxy appointment is made;

(d) “relevant register” means the register in which the existing absent voter is registered and which relates to elections of the same kind as those to which the proxy appointment relates.

(3) If a proxy appointment ceases to be in force because sub-paragraph (1) ceases to preserve it, the officer must—

(a) notify the proxy and the existing absent voter in the prescribed manner, and

(b) take any other prescribed steps.

(4) This paragraph does not apply in relation to an existing absent voter who is a relevant person for the purposes of Part 5 or 6 of this Schedule.