Legal background
- The law governing the proceedings of elections and the requirements placed on those running for public office is set out in a large number of statutes and orders. The RPA 1983 is the core Act dealing with the voting franchise for UK parliamentary elections and local elections in England, Wales and Scotland, as well as other rules, and the detailed procedure for conducting UK parliamentary elections. This Act inserts new section 62C into the RPA 1983, which creates the new offences of being with a voter in a polling booth with the intention of influencing how the voter casts their vote, and of being near a polling booth when another person is at that booth with the same intention. This is in addition to existing offences in the RPA 1983 relating to secrecy of the ballot (under section 66) and of undue influence (under section 114A, which has not yet been commenced, and section 115).
- The conduct rules for Northern Ireland Assembly elections and offences in relation to those elections are set out in the Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/2599) ("the 2001 Order"). Schedule 1 to the 2001 Order applies provisions of the RPA 1983 with some modifications. The Act amends that Schedule to apply the new offences to Northern Ireland Assembly elections.
- The rules for local elections in Northern Ireland are set out in the 1962 Act. The Act inserts a new paragraph 26A in Schedule 9 to the 1962 Act which creates the same offences as new section 62C of the RPA 1983 and also makes consequential amendments to the 1962 Act.
