Section 9 - Method of voting by convicted persons at local government elections
24.Section 9 sets out the manner by which a prisoner may cast their vote by making a number of amendments to schedule 4 of the 2000 Act. A prisoner may apply to vote by post or they may appoint a proxy to cast their vote on their behalf. Applications to vote by post or proxy will be subject to the same restrictions which apply to other voters. No provision is being made to allow for prisoners to cast their votes in person at polling stations within prison premises (or elsewhere) due to the security and practical difficulties of making such arrangements. Section 9(4) makes an amendment to paragraph 6 of schedule 4 of the 2000 Act to provide that a prisoner to whom new subsection 3(1A) of the 1983 Act applies will not be capable of acting as a proxy for another elector.
25.The provisions in schedule 4 of the 2000 Act refer only to local government elections. Equivalent provision for Scottish Parliament elections is made in Part 2 of the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2015 (the “2015 Order”). An equivalent change is made to the 2015 Order in paragraph 2 of the schedule of the Act added by section 10 referred to in paragraph 26 below.
