Commentary on provisions of Act
Section 1: Amendment of the Representation of the People Act 1983
- This section inserts new section 62C into the RPA 1983.
- Subsection (1) of new section 62C makes it an offence at UK parliamentary elections and local elections in England for a person to be with another person at a polling booth, with the intention of influencing that other person to vote in a particular way or to refrain from voting.
- Subsection (2) of new section 62C makes it an offence at UK parliamentary elections and local elections in England for a person to be near a polling booth when another person is at that booth, with the intention of influencing that other person to vote in a particular way or to refrain from voting.
- Subsection (3) of new section 62C defines certain terms and makes provision for the purposes of new section 62C. Subsection (3)(b) provides that a person helping a voter under rule 39 of the Parliamentary Election Rules, Schedule 1 to the RPA 1983, or any other legislation, is not influencing the voter to vote in a particular way or to refrain from voting. Companions or presiding officers, where they are acting in accordance with the provisions on assisting a voter will not commit the offence. Subsection (3)(c) provides that under new section 62C, a person may be near one polling booth while at a different polling booth. This means the offences will capture a person in or near a polling booth seeking to influence another voter in a different polling booth.
- Under subsection (4), those found guilty of the new summary offences will be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, to a fine (which is unlimited in England and Wales, and not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale in Scotland and Northern Ireland), or to both.
- Subsection (5) of new section 62C provides that section 62C does not apply to local elections in Scotland or Wales.
Section 2: Amendment of Northern Ireland legislation
- This section creates equivalent offences for the purposes of local elections in Northern Ireland and applies new section 62C of the RPA 1983 for the purposes of elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Subsection (1) amends the 1962 Act to introduce equivalent offences in relation to local elections in Northern Ireland. Subsection (2) amends the 2001 Order to apply new section 62C of the RPA 1983 in relation to Northern Ireland Assembly elections.
Section 3: Extent, commencement and short title
- Subsections (1) and (2) of this section set out the extent of the Act. The Act extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, apart from section 2(1), which extends to Northern Ireland only.
- Subsection (3) provides that the section comes into force on the day on which the Act is passed.
- Subsections (4) to (8) give the Secretary of State the power to commence the provisions in the Act through subsequent commencement regulations, and make transitional, transitory or saving provisions in connection with commencement. The transitional, transitory or saving regulations may make different provision for different purposes or areas.
- Subsection (9) states that the Act may be cited as the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023.
