19.Section 2 amends Schedule 2 to the 1983 Act to enable the Minister to make regulations which will enable a system to be established for the verification of the eligibility of applicants and registered electors in Great Britain, and verification that applicants are the person they claim to be.
20.Subsection (2) inserts new sub-paragraphs in Schedule 2 which require secondary legislation authorising or requiring registration officers to require an applicant or a registered elector to provide evidence of eligibility and evidence that an applicant is the person named in the application to specify the type of evidence to be provided.
21.Subsection (3) inserts a new paragraph in Schedule 2 to enable secondary legislation to specify the form and contents of applications and declarations, and to require a person applying to register to vote to provide evidence that he or she is the person named in the application and that he or she is entitled to be registered. The required evidence must be specified in regulations, and such evidence may for example include a person’s date of birth and national insurance number. Subsection (3) also enables secondary legislation to confer functions on registration officers and local or public authorities to enable voter applications to be made in a particular manner. Other functions may be conferred on registration officers and functions may also be conferred on the Electoral Commission.
22.Subsection (4) inserts a new paragraph in Schedule 2 to permit or require registration officers to accept a person’s statement of a fact without further evidence of it.