The National Assembly for Wales Referendum (Assembly Act Provisions) (Referendum Question, Date of Referendum Etc.) Order 2010

PART 7 Disposal of documents

Sealing up of ballot papers

41.—(1) As soon as reasonably practicable after the Chief Counting Officer has directed a counting officer under rule 39(1), the counting officer must seal up in separate packets —

(a) the counted ballot papers; and

(b) the rejected ballot papers.

(2) The counting officer must not open the sealed packets of —

(a) tendered ballot papers;

(b) the completed corresponding numbers lists;

(c) the certificates as to employment on duty on the day of the poll; or

(d) marked copies of the register (including any marked copy notices issued under section 13B(3B) or (3D) of the 1983 Act) and list of proxies.

Delivery of documents to relevant registration officer

42.—(1) After sealing the papers in accordance with rule 41, the counting officer must send the documents mentioned in paragraph (2) to the relevant registration officer endorsing on each packet —

(a) a description of its contents;

(b) the date of the referendum; and

(c) the name of the voting area to which the packets relate.

(2) The documents are —

(a) the packets of ballot papers in the counting officer’s possession;

(b) the ballot paper accounts and the statements of rejected ballot papers and of the result of the verification of ballot paper accounts;

(c) the tendered votes lists, the assisted voters lists, the lists of votes marked by the presiding officer and the related statements, the polling day alterations lists and the companion declarations;

(d) the packets of completed corresponding number lists;

(e) the packets of the certificates as to employment on duty on the day of the poll; and

(f) the packets containing marked copies of the registers (including any marked copy notices issued under section 13B(3B) or (3D) of the 1983 Act) and of the postal voters list, of lists of proxies and of the proxy postal voters list.

(3) In this rule, references to the relevant registration officer are to the registration officer of the council of the county or, as the case may be, county borough in which the votes counted by the counting officer have been cast.

Orders for production of documents

43.—(1) An order —

(a) for the inspection or production of any rejected ballot papers in the custody of the relevant registration officer;

(b) for the opening of a sealed packet of the completed corresponding number lists or of the certificates as to employment on duty on the day of the poll; or

(c) for the inspection of any counted ballot papers in the custody of the relevant registration officer,

may be made by the High Court or a county court if satisfied by evidence on oath that the order is required for the purpose of instituting or maintaining a prosecution for an offence in relation to ballot papers or for the purpose of proceedings brought as mentioned in paragraph 12 of Schedule 6 to the 2006 Act.

(2) An order under this rule may be made subject to such conditions as to —

(a) persons;

(b) time;

(c) place and mode of inspection; or

(d) production or opening,

as the court making the order may think expedient.

(3) In making and carrying into effect an order for the opening of a sealed packet referred to in paragraph (1)(b) or for the inspection of counted ballot papers, care must be taken that the way in which the vote of any particular voter has been given is not disclosed until it has been proved —

(a) that the person’s vote was given; and

(b) that the vote has been declared by a competent court to be invalid.

(4) An appeal lies to the High Court from any order of a county court under this rule.

(5) Any power given under this rule to the High Court, or to a county court, may be exercised by any judge of the court otherwise than in open court.

(6) Where an order is made for the production by the relevant registration officer of any document in that officer’s possession relating to the referendum —

(a) the production by the relevant registration officer or by the agent of that officer of the document ordered in such a manner as may be directed by that order is conclusive evidence that the document relates to the referendum; and

(b) any endorsement on any packet of ballot papers so produced is prima facie evidence that the ballot papers are what they are stated to be by the endorsement.

(7) The production from proper custody of —

(a) a ballot paper purporting to have been used in the referendum; and

(b) a completed corresponding number list with a number marked in writing beside the number of the ballot paper,

is prima facie evidence that the elector whose vote was given by that ballot paper was the person whose entry in the register (or on a notice issued under section 13B(3B) or (3D) of the 1983 Act) at the time of the referendum contained the same number as the number written as mentioned in sub-paragraph (b).

(8) Except in accordance with this rule, no person may inspect any rejected or counted ballot papers in the possession of the relevant registration officer or open any sealed packets of the completed corresponding number lists or of the certificates as to employment on duty on the date of the referendum.

Retention and public inspection of documents

44.—(1) The relevant registration officer must retain for one year all documents relating to the referendum forwarded to that officer by virtue of rule 42 and then, unless directed by order of the High Court, the Crown Court or a magistrates’ court, must cause them to be destroyed.

(2) Except in the case of the documents to which paragraph (3) applies, while documents are retained under paragraph (1) they must be open to public inspection.

(3) The documents to which this paragraph applies are —

(a) ballot papers;

(b) the completed corresponding number lists; and

(c) certificates as to employment on duty on the day of the poll.

(4) The relevant registration officer must, on request, supply to any person copies of or extracts from any description of the documents open to public inspection under Part 7 of the 2001 Regulations as modified in relation to the referendum by Schedule 5 (“the modified Part 7 Regulations”).

(5) A right to inspect or to be supplied with a document or part of a document under this rule is subject to —

(a) any condition imposed by the modified Part 7 Regulations; and

(b) the payment of any fee required by the modified Part 7 Regulations.