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Section 24.

SCHEDULE 4 Miscellaneous Amendments of the Principal Act

Part I (parliamentary and local government franchise and its exercise)

1In section 3(1) (disfranchisement of person detained in penal institution in pursuance of sentence) after the word “sentence” there shall be inserted the words “or unlawfully at large when he would otherwise be so detained”.

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4(1)In section 18 (polling districts and places at parliamentary elections) in subsection (2)—

(a)at the end of paragraph (a) there shall be inserted the words “and, in particular, they shall, so far as is reasonable and practicable, designate as polling places only places which are accessible to electors who are disabled”; and

(b)in paragraph (b) the words “in the case of a county constituency” shall cease to have effect.

(2)In subsection (3) of that section as the end of paragraph (a) there shall be inserted the words “and, in particular, he shall, so far as is reasonable and practicable, designate as polling places only places which are accessible to electors who are disabled”.

(3)In subsection (6) of that section (report of boundaries of polling districts and places to be sent to Secretary of State) paragraph (b) and the word “and” immediately preceding it shall cease to have effect.

(4)In subsection (7) of that section (polling districts and polling places in Northern Ireland to be those established under law relating to election of members of Northern Ireland Assembly) for the words “the election of members to serve in the Northern Ireland Assembly” there shall be substituted the words “local elections within the meaning of section 130 of the M1Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962”.

5At the end of section 26 (returning officer: Northern Ireland) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(2)Sections 14(5) and 14A(2) and (3) of the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 (appointment of temporary deputy and delegation to assistants) shall have effect in relation to the Chief Electoral Officer in his capacity as returning officer.”.

6In section 28 (discharge of returning officer’s functions in England and Wales)—

(a)in subsection (1)(b) after the word “made” there shall be inserted the words “by statutory instrument”; and

(b)in subsection (5) for the words from “but” onwards there shall be substituted the words “and a district council or London borough council may assign officers to assist in carrying out all or any of those duties.”.

7Section 38 (nominations and candidate’s death in local election in England and Wales) shall cease to have effect.

8Subsection (8) of section 39 (two copies of every order by a district council under that section to be sent to the Secretary of State) shall cease to have effect.

9Section 44 (candidate’s death in local election in Scotland) shall cease to have effect.

10In section 49 (effect of registers) subsections (1)(d) and (2)(c) shall cease to have effect.

11Section 51 (corrupt and illegal practices lists) shall cease to have effect.

12In section 52 (discharge of registration duties)—

(a)in subsection (1) for the words “registration duties” there shall be substituted the words “functions under this Act”;

(b)in subsection (2) the words “by the Secretary of State or, in Scotland” shall cease to have effect;

(c)in subsection (3) after “by”, in the second place where it occurs, there shall be inserted the words “or with respect to”; and

(d)for subsections (4) and (5) there shall be substituted—

“(4)It shall be the duty—

(a)in England and Wales, of a district council or London borough council, and

(b)in Scotland, of the council of a region or islands area,

to assign such officers to assist the registration officer as may be required for carrying out his functions under this Act.

(5)Subsection (2) above does not apply in Northern Ireland but sections 14(5) and 14A(2) and (3) of the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 (appointment of temporary deputy and delegation to assistants) shall have effect in relation to the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland in his capacity as registration officer.”.

13In section 53 (power to make regulations as to registration etc.)—

F1(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b)in subsection (3) for the words “subsections (1) and (2)” there shall be substituted the words “subsection (1)”, and for the words “those subsections” there shall be substituted the words “that subsection”.

14In section 54 (payment of expenses of registration)—

(a)in subsection (1) for the words “registration duties” there shall be substituted the words “functions under this Act”; and

(b)in subsection (3) for the words from “or” to “expenses” there shall be substituted the words “paid to the registration officer under this Act”.

15Section 55 (ascertainment of amount of registration expenses) shall cease to have effect.

16In section 56 (registration appeals: England and Wales)—

(a)subsection (1)(c) shall cease to have effect; and

(b)after subsection (4) there shall be inserted—

“(4A)Where, as a result of the decision on an appeal, an alteration in the register is made under subsection (4) above on or before the last day on which nomination papers nominating candidates at an election may be delivered to the returning officer, subsection (3) above does not apply to that appeal as respects that election.”.

F117. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F118. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

19For section 63 (breach of official duty in parliamentary elections) and section 64 (breach of official duty in local elections) there shall be substituted—

“63 Breach of official duty

(1)If a person to whom this section applies is, without reasonable cause, guilty of any act or omission in breach of his official duty, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

(2)No person to whom this section applies shall be liable for breach of his official duty to any penalty at common law and no action for damages shall lie in respect of the breach by such a person of his official duty.

(3)The persons to whom this section applies are—

(a)the Clerk of the Crown (or, in Northern Ireland, the Clerk of the Crown for Northern Ireland),

(b)any sheriff clerk, registration officer, returning officer or presiding officer,

(c)any other person whose duty it is to be responsible after a local government election for the used ballot papers and other documents (including returns and declarations as to expenses),

(d)any postmaster, and

(e)any deputy of a person mentioned in any of paragraphs (a) to (d) above or any person appointed to assist or in the course of his employment assisting a person so mentioned in connection with his official duties;

and “official duty” shall for the purposes of this section be construed accordingly, but shall not include duties imposed otherwise than by the law relating to parliamentary or local government elections or the registration of parliamentary or local government electors.”.

Part II (the election campaign)

20In subsection (4) of section 67 (appointment of election agent) after the word “appointment” there shall be inserted the words “(or deemed appointment)”.

21In subsection (3) of section 68 (nomination of sub-agent at parliamentary elections) for the words “One clear day” there shall be substituted the words “Not later than the second day”.

22In subsection (1)(a) of section 69 (office of election agent and sub-agent) after the word “agent” there shall be inserted the words “is declared to him”.

23In section 70 (effect of default in election agent’s appointment) there shall be inserted after subsection (3)—

“(3A)The deemed appointment of a candidate as his own election agent may be revoked as if it were an actual appointment.”.

24In section 75 (prohibition of expenses not authorised by election agent)—

(a)in subsection (2)(a) for the words “within 14 days after the date of publication of the result of the election send” there shall be substituted the words “within 21 days after the day on which the result of the election is declared deliver”;

(b)in subsection (4) for the words “14 days after the date of the publication of the result of the election” there shall be substituted the words “21 days after the day on which the result of the election is declared”; and

(c)in subsection (5) after the words “fails to” there shall be inserted the words “deliver or”.

25Section 76(3) (power to vary maximum amount of candidates’ election expenses) shall cease to have effect.

26In section 78(1) (claims for election expenses which are not sent to the election agent within 14 days after the declaration of the election result to be barred) and in sections 78(4), 79(1) and 79(4) (which refer to that period) for the words “14 days” there shall be substituted the words “21 days”.

27In section 81 (return as to election expenses)—

(a)in subsections (1) and (5) for the word “transmit” there shall be substituted the word “deliver”; and

(b)in subsection (5) for the word “transmitted” there shall be substituted the word “delivered”.

28In section 82 (declaration as to election expenses)—

(a)in subsections (1) and (3) for the word “transmitted”, in each place where it occurs, there shall be substituted the word “delivered”; and

(b)in subsection (2) for the words “transmits” and “transmit or cause to be transmitted” there shall be substituted respectively the words “delivers” and “deliver”.

29In section 85 (penalty for sitting or voting where no return and declarations transmitted)—

(a)in subsection (1) for the word “transmitted”, in both places where it occurs, and for the word “transmit” there shall be substituted respectively the words “delivered” and “deliver”; and

(b)for subsection (3) there shall be substituted—

“(3)Civil proceedings for a penalty under this section shall be commenced within the period of one year beginning with the day in respect of which the penalty is alleged to have been incurred.”.

30In section 86 (authorised excuses for failures as to return and declarations)—

(a)after subsection (1) there shall be inserted—

“(1A)Where a person makes an application under this section he shall notify the Director of Public Prosecutions of the application and the Director or his assistant or any barrister, advocate or solicitor duly appointed as the Director’s representative may attend the hearing of the application and make representations at the hearing in respect of it.”; and

(b)in subsection (2) for the word “transmit”, in each place where it occurs, there shall be substituted the word “deliver”.

31In section 87 (court’s power to require information from election agent or sub-agent) in subsection (3) (under which the court may order a person who fails to comply with an order of the court under the section to pay a fine not exceeding £500) for “£500” there shall be substituted “the amount of the maximum fine to which he would be liable if at the time the order is made he were convicted of a summary offence on conviction of which he was liable to a fine of level 5 on the standard scale”.

32In section 88 (publication of time and place for inspection of returns and declarations) in paragraph (a) for the word “transmitting” there shall be substituted the word “delivering”.

33In section 89 (inspection of returns and declarations) for the word “sent”, in both places where it occurs, and the word “sending” there shall be substituted respectively the words “delivered” and “delivering”.

34For subsection (1) of section 91 (candidate’s right to send election address post free) there shall be substituted—

“(1)A candidate at a parliamentary election is, subject to Post Office regulations, entitled to send free of charge for postage either—

(a)one unaddressed postal communication, containing matter relating to the election only and not exceeding 60 grammes in weight, to each place in the constituency which, in accordance with those regulations, constitutes a delivery point for the purposes of this subsection; or

(b)one such postal communication addressed to each elector.”.

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36(1)In section 94 (imitation poll cards) after the words “parliamentary election” there shall be inserted the words “or a local government election to which this section applies”.

(2)At the end of that section there shall be inserted—

“(2)This section applies to any local government election in relation to which rules made under section 36 or, in Scotland, section 42 above require an official poll card to be sent to electors in a form prescribed by the rules.”.

37In section 95 (schools and rooms for parliamentary election meetings)—

(a)in subsection (1)—

(i)after the word “use” there shall be inserted the words “free of charge”;

(ii)after the word “and” there shall be inserted the words “the day preceding”; and

(b)in paragraph (a) of subsection (4) for the words from the beginning to “expenses” there shall be substituted the words “shall defray any expenses”.

38For section 96 (schools and rooms for local election meetings) there shall be substituted—

“96 Schools and rooms for local election meetings

(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, a candidate at a local government election is entitled for the purpose of holding public meetings in furtherance of his candidature to the use free of charge at reasonable times between the last day on which notice of the election may be published in accordance with rules made under section 36 or, in Scotland, section 42 above and the day preceding the day of election of—

(a)a suitable room in the premises of a school to which this section applies; or

(b)a meeting room to which this section applies.

(2)This section applies—

(a)in England and Wales, to a county or voluntary school situated in the electoral area for which the candidate is standing (or, if there is no such school in the area, in any such school in an adjacent electoral area) or in a parish or community, as the case may be, in part comprised in that electoral area; and

(b)in Scotland, to any school (not being an independent school within the meaning of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980) situated in the electoral area for which the candidate is standing (or, if there is no such school in the area, in any such school in an adjacent electoral area).

(3)This section applies—

(a)in England and Wales, to any meeting room situated in the electoral area for which the candidate is standing or in a parish or community, as the case may be, in part comprised in that electoral area, the expense of maintaining which is payable wholly or mainly out of public funds or out of any rate, or by a body whose expenses are so payable;

(b)in Scotland, to any meeting room the expense of maintaining which is payable by the council of a region, islands area or district.

(4)Subsections (4), (5) and (7) of section 95 above and paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 5 to this Act shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section, and any person stating himself to be, or to be authorised by, a candidate at a local government election in respect of an electoral area which falls (or partly falls) within a constituency, or his election agent, shall be entitled to inspect the lists prepared under Schedule 5 to this Act in relation to the constituency or a copy of them at all reasonable hours during the period beginning with the day on which notice of the election is published and ending with the day preceding the day of election.”.

39In section 97 (disturbances at election meetings) in subsection (2)(b) (section to apply to meetings held on, or within three weeks before, the day of election) for the words “on, or within three weeks before” there shall be substituted the words “in the period beginning with the last date on which notice of the election may be published in accordance with rules made under section 36 or, in Scotland, section 42 above and ending with”.

40Section 103(2) (which exempts carriages used only for the conveyance of electors to or from polls from duty etc.) shall cease to have effect.

41In section 106 (false statements as to candidates) subsection (4) (which disapplies that section in relation to elections of councillors in Scotland) shall cease to have effect.

42In section 108 (premises not to be used as committee rooms)—

(a)subsection (3) (application of section to licensed premises and premises where refreshments sold for consumption on premises); and

(b)in subsection (4) the word “also”,

shall cease to have effect.

43In section 118 (interpretation of Part II) in the definition of “return as to election expenses” for the word “transmitted” there shall be substituted the word “delivered”.

Part III (legal proceedings)

44In section 122 (time for presentation or amendment of parliamentary election petition) in subsection (4) for the word “transmitting” there shall be substituted the word “delivering”.

45In section 124 (judges’ expenses and reception: England and Wales and Northern Ireland) in paragraph (a) the words “receiving the judges and” and paragraph (b) shall cease to have effect.

46In section 125 (judges’ expenses and reception: Scotland) paragraph (a) shall cease to have effect.

47In section 126(3) (expenses of shorthand writers) for the words “in receiving the judges” there shall be substituted the words “under section 125 above”.

48In section 136 (security for costs)—

(a)in subsection (2)(a) (parliamentary elections) for “£1,000” there shall be substituted “such amount not exceeding £5,000 as the High Court or a judge of the High Court, on summons, directs”;

(b)in subsection (2)(b) (local government elections) for “£500” there shall be substituted “£2,500”;

(c)in subsection (2)(i)—

(i)at the beginning there shall be inserted the words “the amount mentioned in paragraph (a) above shall be such amount not exceeding £5,000 as the Court of Session or a judge of the Court of Session directs and”; and

(ii)for “£500” there shall be substituted “£2,500”;

(d)for subsection (3) there shall be substituted—

“(3)Within the prescribed time after giving the security the petitioner shall serve on the respondent in the prescribed manner—

(a)a notice of the presentation of the petition and of the amount and nature of the security, and

(b)a copy of the petition.”; and

(e)the following provisions shall cease to have effect—

(i)in subsection (4) the words “not exceeding five days after service of the notice”;

(ii)subsection (5);

(iii)in subsection (7) the words “not exceeding five days”.

49In section 140 (witnesses)—

(a)subsection (5) (duty of Director of Public Prosecutions to obey the election court’s directions concerning the summoning and examination of witnesses) shall cease to have effect; and

(b)in subsection (7)—

(i)for the words “Subsections (5) and (6) above do” there shall be substituted the words “Subsection (6) above does”;

(ii)for the word “shall”, where it first occurs, there shall be substituted the words “may, if the Lord Advocate so decides, and shall, if the election court so requests”; and

(iii)the words from “and shall give” to the end of the subsection shall cease to have effect.

50Sections 141(3) and (4) and 142 (certificates of indemnity given to witnesses by election court) shall cease to have effect.

51In section 156 (costs of election petition)—

(a)in subsection (1) for the words from “the court” onwards there shall be substituted the words “the court may, subject to the provisions of subsection (5) below, make such order with respect to the whole or part of the costs of the petition as is mentioned in that subsection”; and

(b)subsections (2) to (4) (payment of costs by constituency or local authority in certain circumstances) shall cease to have effect.

52In section 160 (persons reported personally guilty of corrupt or illegal practices)—

(a)subsection (2) (duty of Director of Public Prosecutions to obey the election court’s directions concerning person to whom notices are given under section 160(1)) shall cease to have effect; and

(b)for subsection (3) there shall be substituted—

“(3)The report shall be laid before the Director of Public Prosecutions.”.

53In section 161 (justice of the peace)—

(a)for the words “it is the duty of the Director of Public Prosecutions to” there shall be substituted the words “the court shall”; and

(b)after the words “Lord Chancellor” there shall be inserted the words “or, in the case of a justice of the peace for any area in Scotland, the Secretary of State”.

54In section 162 (member of legal and certain other professions)—

(a)in paragraph (a) for the words “it is the duty of the Director of Public Prosecutions to” there shall be substituted the words “the court shall”; and

(b)after the words “Inn of Court”, in both places where they occur, there shall be inserted the words “Faculty of Advocates”.

55In subsection (1)(b) of section 163 (holder of licence or certificate under Licensing Acts) for the words “it is the duty of the Director of Public Prosecutions to” there shall be substituted the words “the court shall”.

56In section 167 (applications for relief) after subsection (1) there shall be inserted—

“(1A)Where a person makes an application under this section he shall notify the Director of Public Prosecutions of the application and the Director or his assistant or representative may attend the hearing of the application and make representations at the hearing in respect of it.”.

57In section 168 (prosecutions for corrupt practices) subsections (5) and (6) (evidence of at least two credible witnesses required in cases of personation) shall cease to have effect.

58Section 171 (prosecution of election petition offences in England and Wales and Northern Ireland) shall cease to have effect.

59Section 172 (prosecution of election petition offences in Scotland) shall cease to have effect.

60In section 173(a) (incapacities which arise on conviction of a corrupt practice on indictment) the words “on indictment” shall cease to have effect.

61In section 176 (time limit for prosecutions)—

(a)in subsection (1) for the words “any offence to which this section applies” there shall be substituted the words “any offence under any provision contained in or made under this Act”;

(b)for subsection (2) there shall be substituted—

“(2)For the purposes of this section—

(a)in England and Wales, the laying of an information;

(b)in Scotland, the granting of a warrant to apprehend or cite the accused (if, in relation to an offence alleged to have been committed within the United Kingdom, such warrant is executed without [F1undue] delay); and

(c)in Northern Ireland, the making of a complaint,

shall be deemed to be the commencement of a proceeding.”; and

(c)subsection (3) shall cease to have effect.

62For section 178 (prosecution of offences committed outside United Kingdom) there shall be substituted—