The National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) Order 2007

Voting as proxy at Assembly elections

12.—(1) A person entitled to vote as proxy at an Assembly election may do so in person at the polling station allotted to the elector under this Order unless he is entitled to vote by post as proxy for the elector at the election, in which case he may vote by post.

(2) Where a person is entitled to vote by post as proxy for the elector at any Assembly election, the elector may not apply for a ballot paper for the purpose of voting in person at the election.

(3) For the purposes of this Order, a person entitled to vote as proxy for another at an Assembly election is entitled so to vote by post if he is included in the list kept under paragraph (8) in respect of the election.

(4) Where a person applies to the registration officer to vote by post—

(a) as proxy at Assembly elections (whether for an indefinite period or for a particular period specified in his application); or

(b) as proxy at a particular Assembly election,

the registration officer shall grant the application if the conditions set out in paragraph (5) are satisfied.

(5) Those conditions are—

(a) that the registration officer is satisfied that the elector is or will be registered in the register; and

(b) that there is in force an appointment of the applicant as the elector’s proxy to vote for him at Assembly elections or, as the case may be, the Assembly election concerned; and

(c) that the application contains the applicant’s signature and date of birth and meets the requirements set out in Schedule 1.

(6) The registration officer shall keep a record of those whose applications under paragraph (4)(a) have been granted showing—

(a) whether their applications were to vote by post as proxy for an indefinite or a particular period (specifying that period); and

(b) the addresses provided by them in their applications as the addresses to which their ballot papers are to be sent.

(7) Where, in the case of a particular election, a person included in the record kept under paragraph (6) applies to the registration officer for his ballot paper to be sent to a different address from that shown in the record, the registration officer shall grant the application if it meets the requirements set out in Schedule 1.

(8) The registration officer shall, in respect of each Assembly election, keep a special list (“the proxy postal voters list”) of—

(a) those who are for the time being included in the record kept under paragraph (6), together with the addresses provided by them in their applications under paragraph (4)(a) or paragraph (7) as the addresses to which their ballot papers are to be sent; and

(b) those whose applications under paragraph (4)(b) have been granted in respect of the election concerned, together with the addresses to which their ballot papers are to be sent,

provided that where the polls at a constituency election and at a regional election are to be taken together, only one list shall be kept under this paragraph and that list shall have effect in relation to both elections.

(9) In the case of a person who has an anonymous entry in the register the special list mentioned in paragraph (8) must contain only the person’s electoral number and the period for which the anonymous entry has effect.

(10) The registration officer shall remove a person from the record kept under paragraph (6)—

(a) if he applies to the registration officer to be removed;

(b) in the case of a person who applied to vote by post as proxy for a particular period, once that period expires;

(c) if the elector ceases to be registered as mentioned in paragraph (5)(a); or

(d) if the appointment of the person concerned as the elector’s proxy ceases to be in force (whether or not he is re-appointed).

(11) Paragraph (2) does not prevent a person, at the polling station allotted to him, marking a tendered ballot paper in pursuance of rule 49 (4) or (6) of Schedule 5.

(12) The registration officer may dispense with the requirement under paragraph (5)(c) for the applicant to provide a signature if he is satisfied that the applicant is unable—

(a) to provide a signature because of any disability the applicant has; or

(b) to provide a signature because the applicant is unable to read or write; or

(c) to sign in a consistent and distinctive way because of any such disability or inability.

(13) The registration officer shall also keep a record in relation to those whose applications under paragraph (4)(a) or (b) have been granted showing—

(a) their dates of birth; and

(b) except in cases where the registration officer in pursuance of paragraph (12) has dispensed with the requirement to provide a signature, their signatures.

(14) The record kept under paragraph (13) must be retained by the registration officer for the period prescribed in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1.