Section 10: Piloting registration provisions
45.Section 10 enables the Minister to make an order, in relation to a particular area and for a particular time, to test changes to electoral registration as set out in this Act, that is to say any provision in sections 1 and 2, and in Schedules 1, 2 and 4.
46.Subsection (4) stipulates that a Minister can only make an order to pilot changes to the registration system in an area if the registration officer responsible for that area has proposed the making of the pilot scheme, and has agreed any amendments to the proposal by the Minister.
47.Subsections (5) and (6) enable an order to state what is to happen at the end of the pilot period and to modify the transitional arrangements. This could, for example, be used to ensure that electors who have registered under the new system during a pilot do not have to register under the new system again when it is launched nationwide.