National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) (Amendment) Order 2002
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2002/834 |
| Year | 2002 |
2002No. 834
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
DEVOLUTION, WALES
REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE
The National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) (Amendment) Order 2002
25thMarch2002
Whereas a draft of this Order has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament;
Now therefore, the Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by section 11 of the Government of Wales Act 1998( 1) , and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, and having in accordance with section 8(2) and (3)(b) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000( 2) considered it expedient in consequence of changes in the value of money to make provision relating to the matters mentioned in subsection (2)(c) of the said section 11( 3), and after consulting the Electoral Commission( 4) hereby makes the following Order:
Citation and commencement
1. This Order may be cited as the National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) (Amendment) Order 2002 and shall come into force on the day after the day on which it is made, but it shall not apply for the purposes of any election where the last day for the publication of the notice of election in respect of that election precedes that later date.
Interpretation
2. In this Order, "the principal Order" means the National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) Order 1999( 5).
Amendment of the principal Order
3. The principal Order shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this Order.
Article 2 (Interpretation)
4. - (1) Article 2 of the principal Order shall be amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (1) -
(a) for the definition of "dwelling house" substitute -" "dwelling" includes any part of a building where that part is occupied separately as a dwelling";
(b) in each of the definitions of "registered emblem" and "registered political party" for "the Registration of Political Parties Act 1998" substitute "Part II of the 2000 Political Parties Act";(c) in the definition of "registered nominating officer" for "has the same meaning as in the Registration of Political Parties Act 1998" substitute "means the person registered under Part II of the 2000 Political Parties Act as the officer with responsibility for the matters referred to in section 24(3) of that Act in respect of a registered political party";(d) in the definition of "service voter", the reference to section 15 of the Representation of the People Act 1983( 6)is a reference to that section as amended by the Representation of the People Act 2000( 7);(e) after the definition of "the 1998 Act" insert -" "the 2000 Act" means the Representation of the People Act 2000,
"the 2000 Political Parties Act" means the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000,"; and
(f) after the definition of "the 1986 Regulations" insert -" "the 2001 Regulations" means the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001," ( 8) ( 9).
Article 4 (Register of electors etc.)
5. In article 4(1) of the principal Order, for "section 11(1) or (2)" there shall be substituted "section 13A"( 10), and for "correction" there shall be substituted "alteration".
Article 7 (Manner of voting at Assembly elections)
6. In article 7 of the principal Order, after paragraph (6) there shall be inserted -
" (6A) Nothing in the preceding provisions of this article applies to -
(a) a person to whom section 7 of the 1983 Act (mental patients who are not detained offenders) applies and who is liable, by virtue of any enactment, to be detained in the mental hospital in question, or(b) a person to whom section 7A of that Act (persons remanded in custody) applies,whether he is registered by virtue of that provision or not, and such a person may only vote by post or by proxy (where he is entitled as an elector to vote by post or, as the case may be, by proxy at the election).".
Article 8 (Absent vote etc.)
7. - (1) Article 8 of the principal Order shall be amended as follows.
(2) In the heading, after "for" add "a particular or".
(3) In paragraph (1) -
(a) for the words "for an indefinite period" substitute "(whether for an indefinite period or for a particular period specified in his application)";(b) in sub-paragraph (a) - (i) at the beginning insert "in the case of an application to vote by proxy,",(ii) for the words "for an absent vote" substitute "to vote by proxy", and(iii) omit the words "for an indefinite period".(4) In paragraph (2) -
(a) for the words "for an absent vote" substitute "to vote by proxy", and omit the words "for an indefinite period";(b) omit sub-paragraph (b); and(c) in sub-paragraph (d), at the end add "by reason of his or his spouse's attendance on a course provided by an educational institution, or".(5) Omit paragraph (3).
(6) In paragraph (4), at the end add "showing whether their applications were to vote by post or proxy for an indefinite or a particular period (specifying that period)."
(7) In paragraph (6) -
(a) in sub-paragraph (b) - (i) for the words "as a service voter, or", substitute -" in pursuance of -
(i) a service declaration, or(ii) a declaration of local connection,";(b) in sub-paragraph (c), - (i) at the beginning insert, "in the case of any person shown in the record as voting by proxy,", and(ii) at the end, add ", or";and
(c) after sub-paragraph (c) add -" (d) in the case of a person who applied to vote by post or proxy for a particular period, once that period has expired.".
(8) Omit paragraph (7) and substitute -
"(7) A person shown in the record kept under paragraph (4) as voting by post may subsequently after his choice by applying to the registration officer to vote by proxy instead (whether for an indefinite period or for a particular period specified in his application); and if the registration officer would be required to grant that application if it were an application to vote by proxy under paragraph (1), the registration officer shall amend the record accordingly.
(7A) A person shown in the record kept under paragraph (4) as voting by proxy may subsequently alter his choice by applying to the registration officer to vote by post instead (whether for an indefinite period or for a particular period specified in his application); and if the application meets the requirements of Schedule 2, the registration officer shall amend the record accordingly.".
Article 9 (Absent vote at a particular Assembly election)
8. - (1) Article 9 of the principal Order shall be amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (1)(a), after "satisfied" insert "in the case of an application to vote by proxy,".
(3) For paragraph (3) substitute -
" (3) The registration officer shall grant an application under paragraph (2) if -
(a) in the case of any application, it meets the requirements set out in Schedule 2; and(b) in the case of an application to vote by proxy, he is satisfied that the applicant's circumstances on the date of the poll will be or are likely to be such that he cannot reasonably be expected to vote in person at the polling station allotted or likely to be allotted to him under this Order.".Article 11 (Proxies at Assembly elections)
9. - (1) Article 11 of the principal Order shall be amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph (6), for the words "for an indefinite period" substitute "(whether for an indefinite period or for a particular period specified in his application)".
(3) In paragraph (9), at the end, add ", and where the appointment was for a particular period, the appointment shall cease to be in force once that period expires.".
Article 12 (Voting as proxy at Assembly elections)
10. - (1) Article 12 of the principal Order shall be amended as follows.
(2) For paragraph (4) substitute -
" (4) Where a person applies to the registration officer to vote by post -
(a) as proxy at Assembly elections (whether for an indefinite period or for a particular period specified in his application), or(b) as proxy at a particular Assembly election,the registration officer shall (subject to paragraph (12)) grant the application if the conditions set out in paragraph (4A) are satisfied.
(4A) Those conditions are -
(a) that the registration officer is satisfied that the elector is or will be registered in the register of local government electors, and(b) that there is in force an appointment of the applicant as the elector's proxy to vote for him at Assembly elections or, as the case may be, the Assembly election concerned, and(c) that the application meets the requirements set out in Schedule 2.".(3) Omit paragraphs (5), (7) and (10).
(4) For paragraph (6) substitute -
" (6) The registration officer shall keep a record of those whose applications under paragraph (4)(a) have been granted showing -
(a) whether their applications were to vote by post as proxy for an indefinite or a particular period (specifying that period), and(b) the addresses provided by them in their applications as the addresses to which their ballot papers are to be sent.".(5) In paragraph (9) -
(a) in sub-paragraph (a), for "that paragraph" substitute "paragraph (4)(a)"; and(b) in sub-paragraph (b), for "paragraph (7)" substitute "paragraph (4)(b)".(6) In paragraph (11), for sub-paragraph (b), substitute -
" (b) in the case of a person who applied to vote by post as proxy for a particular period, once that period expires.";
and in sub-paragraph (c), for "10(a)" substitute "(4)(a)".
Article 23 (Effect of registers)
11. - (1) Article 23 of the principal Order shall be amended as follows.
(2) Omit paragraph (1).
(3) In paragraph (2) for "or is" substitute "nor".
(4) In paragraph (4) for "qualifying date", wherever occurring, substitute "relevant date".
(5) After paragraph (4) insert -
" (5) In paragraph (4), the "relevant date" means -
(a) in relation to a person registered in the register of local government electors as published in accordance with section 13(1) of the 1983 Act( 11), the 15th October immediately preceding the date of...To continue reading
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