Cookies on Legislation.gov.uk

The cookies on legislation.gov.uk do two things: they remember any settings you've chosen so you don't have to choose them on every page, and they help us understand how people browse our website, so we can make improvements and fix problems. We need your consent to use some of these cookies.

Search Legislation

Advanced Search

Elections Act 2022

Contents

Territorial Extent and Application

  1. Section 66 sets out the territorial extent of provisions of the Act, that is the jurisdictions of which the Act forms part of the law.
  2. The Act’s territorial extent and application are complex. The Act generally extends to the UK, subject to what is set out below. Its application differs across provisions.
  3. The provisions of Part 1 largely have UK extent, but:
    1. some of the amendments to the RPA 1983 made by section 1 and Schedule 1 regarding voter identification extend to England and Wales and Scotland only, and some extend to Northern Ireland only. Additionally, paragraphs 34, 36 and 38 of that Schedule extend existing provisions which currently extend to Northern Ireland only so that they extend to the whole of the UK;
    2. provisions about the limit on the period for which a postal vote can be held (in section 3 and Schedule 3) do not extend to Northern Ireland;
    3. provisions about limits on proxy voting (in section 6 and Schedule 4) have separate transitional arrangements which extend to England and Wales and Scotland, or to Northern Ireland only, respectively;
    4. further transitional arrangements about proxy voting in respect of local elections in Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Assembly elections extend to Northern Ireland only.
  4. Amendments, repeals and revocations made by the rest of the Act generally have the same extent as the provision amended, repealed or revoked, except for amendments made to the RPA 1983 by paragraph 1 of Schedule 8 relating to voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens. Additionally, section 66(5) applies section 384(1) and (2) of the Armed Forces Act 2006 to the amendments made to that Act by paragraph 10 of Schedule 10. Section 384(1) allows the provisions of the Armed Forces Act 2006 to be extended to any of the Channel Islands. Section 384(2) extends the provisions of the Armed Forces Act 2006 to the Isle of Man and the British overseas territories other than Gibraltar.
  5. Generally, the provisions of the Act apply to the same areas of the UK as the areas to which they extend. The provisions of Part 1 apply for the purposes of UK Parliamentary elections in those areas, except as follows. The postal and proxy voting provisions in Part 1 also apply for the purposes of local government elections in England. The clarified offence of undue influence as provided in new section 114A RPA 1983 (as provided by section 8 of the Act) also applies to elections in England under the Local Government Act 1972 and excepted elections in Northern Ireland, while section 115 will continue to apply to devolved local government elections in Scotland and Wales. The provisions in section 12 and Schedule 6 apply for the purposes of local elections and Assembly elections in Northern Ireland. The provision at section 13 on the simple majority system for certain elections applies to England and Wales for Police and Crime Commissioners, and to England only for the Mayor of London, combined authority mayors and local authority mayors.
  6. Schedule 2, which amends Schedule 2 to the Representation of the People Act 1983, contains provisions about applications relating to electoral registration, applications to vote by post or proxy, and applications for particular kinds of documents such as electoral identity documents (contained in Schedule 2). These provisions generally apply in relation to UK Parliamentary elections, local government elections in England and elections in Northern Ireland only.
  7. In Part 2, the overseas elector provisions apply for the purposes of UK Parliamentary elections. The provisions on voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens apply for the purposes of local government and other local elections in England, police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales, ward elections for common councillors in the City of London, and local elections and Assembly elections in Northern Ireland.
  8. The Act as a whole only applies to reserved (and excepted, as it relates to Northern Ireland) matters.
  9. See the table at Annex A for a summary of the position regarding territorial extent and application in the UK.

Back to top