Clause 3 - Absent votes and declarations of identity
Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Bill
5:45 pm
Mr Des Browne (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Labour)
Paragraph 2 currently has the effect that applications to vote by post or proxy for an indefinite period must be signed, and that the signature in the application must correspond to the signature provided to the chief electoral officer on registration.
Amendment No. 45 amends section 6(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1985, which specifies requirements when an elector applies for an absent vote at elections for an indefinite period. An application can be granted only if the chief electoral officer is satisfied, among other matters, that the date of birth on the application corresponds with the date of birth supplied by the elector with his registration application. The effect of the amendment would be that an application for a postal or proxy vote for an indefinite period would have to include an elector's signature and date of birth. Both would have to correspond with the signature and date of birth supplied by the elector with his registration application.
Amendment No. 46 would have the same function as amendment No. 45, but applies to applications to vote by post or proxy at a particular parliamentary election. It amends section 7(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1985. Thereafter, an application for a postal or proxy vote for an indefinite period or for a particular parliamentary election would have to include an elector's signature and date of birth, and both would have to correspond to the signature and date of birth supplied by the elector on registration.
Amendment No. 47 would amend rule 24 on postal ballot papers under the parliamentary elections rules in schedule 1 of the Representation of the People Act 1983. It provides for a postal ballot paper to include provision for the form to be signed and, in the case of an elector, the stating of his date of birth.