Police and Elections
| Published date | 01 February 1964 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6403700207 |
| Author | Keith Jempson |
| Date | 01 February 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CHIEF
INSP.
KEITH
JEMPSON
Surrey Constabulary
POLIfJE
AND
ELEfJTIONS
Election means the formal choosing
of
a person for office by the
popular and representative vote of a constituent body. Even in the
modest affairs
of
amateur clubs it is a process governed by carefully
drafted rules, interpreted with due deference to precedent. The right
of an adult citizen to vote in public elections was formally created in
the First Statute of Westminster of 1275, a franchise re-affirmed by
the Bill of Rights in 1688 and the Universal Declaration
of
Human
Rights in 1948. Since Peel's new police first appeared in 1829, a
score of statutes, dealing with discrimination between the sexes,
religious factions, aliens, common informers and corrupt practices,
have built up the law on local and national elections. Much
of
this
is now consolidated in the Representation of the People Act, 1949.
The chief officer
of
police has a common law duty to preserve law
and order at election proceedings in collaboration with the returning
and registration officers. This begins when The Queen in Council
orders the Lord Chancellor to issue the Writs of Election, and the
Clerk
of
the Crown in Chancery sends them to returning officers. In
Parliamentary elections the latest time for receipt
of
nominations is
up to the eighth day after the Proclamation and issue of the Writ. In
urban district elections it is noon on the 14th day, in rural and parish
elections noon on the 16th day before the election. Since the develop-
ment of party organization has sharpened the edge of competition,
police are now likely to be needed at the nomination proceedings and
at campaign meetings. However, too much uniform tends to incite
the agitator and attract undesirable publicity.
During the Campaign
Toward the close of nominations public enthusiasm can rise to a
high pitch. Candidates, their proposers and sponsors, their agents
and supporters, congregate in a tense atmosphere, often 'with press,
radio and television reporters in attendance. The presence
of
a
uniformed constable is a wise precaution, supported by a small
reserve of manpower nearby and available for use in an emergency.
It
is not the purpose
of
this article to examine the evidence re-
quired to prove offences likely to be encountered during an election
campaign. To reduce research time when the occasion arises,
references are grouped under suitable headings:
(a) Meetings.
Incitement to Mutiny Act, 1797, s. 1.
Seditious Meetings Act, 1817, s. 23.
Public Health Act, 1875, s. 164 (Byelaws).
February1964 61
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