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“178 Prosecution of offences committed outside the United Kingdom

Proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act alleged to have been committed outside the United Kingdom by a Commonwealth citizen or citizen of the Republic of Ireland may be taken, and the offence may for all incidental purposes be treated as having been committed, in any place in the United Kingdom.”.

63In section 181—

(a)in subsection (1) (duty of Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate and bring proceedings where any corrupt or illegal practice has occurred) for the words from “corrupt” to “election” there shall be substituted the words “offence under this Act has been committed”;

(b)in subsection (2) (duty of Director of Public Prosecutions or his assistant or representative to attend the trial of every election petition) for the word “shall” there shall be substituted the words “may and, if the election court so requests him, shall”; and

(c)in subsection (3) (power of the Director to nominate a barrister or solicitor to be his representative) the words “with the Attorney General’s approval”, “of not less than ten years standing” and “and that representative shall receive such remuneration as the Treasury may approve” shall cease to have effect.

Part IV (special provisions as to certain local elections)

64In section 187 (application of Act to certain local elections)—

(a)in subsection (1) the word “district”, in both places where it occurs, shall cease to have effect; and

(b)in subsection (2) for “64” there shall be substituted “63”.

65Section 190 (voting offences at election of councillors in Scotland) shall cease to have effect.

66In section 191 (municipal elections in the City) in subsection (1) for “192”, in both places where it occurs, there shall be substituted “193”.

67In section 197 (candidate’s expenses: ward, and liverymen in common hall, elections)—

(a)in subsection (2) (maximum amount of expenses at an election by liverymen in common hall to be £900) for “£900” there shall be substituted “15p for every elector on the common hall register to be used at the election” and at the end there shall be added the words “and in this subsection ” common hall register’ means the list prepared under section 4 of the City of London Ballot Act M11887”; and

(b)in subsection (3) of that section (power to vary by order amounts mentioned in subsections (1) and (2) of the section where change in value of money since last occasion amount varied by order) for the words “varied by such an order” there shall be substituted the words “fixed (whether by such an order or otherwise)”.

Part V (general and supplemental)

68For subsection (1) of section 200 (public notices) there shall be substituted—

“(1)A public notice required by or under this Act to be given by a returning officer for a parliamentary election shall be given by posting the notice in some conspicuous place or places in the constituency and may also be given in such other manner as he thinks desirable for publicising it.

(1A)A public notice required by or under this Act to be given by the proper officer of a local authority at a local government election shall be given by posting the notice in some conspicuous place or places in the local government area and may also be given in such other manner as he thinks desirable for publicising it.”.

69For subsection (2) of section 201 (regulations) there shall be substituted—

“(2)No regulations shall be made under this Act by the Secretary of State otherwise than under section 203(4) below unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.”.

70In section 203 (interpretation) the definition of “registration duties” shall cease to have effect.

71In section 203 (local government provisions as to England and Wales)—

(a)in subsection (1) for the definition of “electoral area” there shall be substituted—

““electoral area” means any electoral division or ward or, in the case of a parish or community in which there are no wards, the parish or community, for which the election of councillors is held under the local government Act”; and

(b)in subsection (4) in paragraph (a) at the beginning there shall be inserted the words “the council shall appoint an officer of the council to be registration officer for the isles and” and the words from “and any” to “officer” shall cease to have effect.

72In section 205 (general application to Northern Ireland) for paragraph (a) of subsection (1) there shall be substituted—

“(a)a reference to the Attorney General refers to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland;

(aa)a reference to the Director of Public Prosecutions refers to the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland;”.

Schedule 1 (parliamentary elections rules)

73In Schedule 1 in rule 1 (timetable)—

(a)in the second column of the entry relating to polling (general elections) for the word “tenth” there shall be substituted the word “eleventh”; and

(b)in the third column of that entry (by-elections) for the words “eighth” and “tenth” there shall be substituted respectively the words “ninth” and “eleventh”.

74In Schedule 1 in rule 5—

(a)in paragraph (1) (publication of notice of election in the form in the Appendix) the words “in the form in the Appendix”, and

(b)paragraph (3) (registration officer to give additional notice of certain matters),

shall cease to have effect.

75In Schedule 1 at the end of rule 9 (deposit) there shall be added—

“(3)Where the deposit is made on behalf of the candidate, the person making the deposit shall at the time he makes it give his name and address to the returning officer (unless they have previously been given to him under section 67 of this Act or rule 6(1) above).”.

76In Schedule 1 in rule 19(2)(d) (under which the counterfoil to the ballot paper is to have the same number printed on the face as is printed on the ballot paper) for the words “on the face” there shall be substituted the words “on it”.

77In Schedule 1 in rule 23 (notice of the poll)—

(a)in paragraph (2), paragraph (c) and the word “and” immediately preceding it shall cease to have effect and at the end there shall be inserted the words “and he shall as soon as practicable after giving such a notice give a copy of it to each of the election agents”; and

(b)paragraph (3) shall cease to have effect.

F178. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

79In Schedule 1 in rule 29(5) (alternative forms of notice to be exhibited in compartments at polling stations) for the words from “a notice” onwards there shall be substituted the words “the notice ”Vote for one candidate only. Put no other mark on the ballot paper, or your vote may not be counted.”’.

80In Schedule 1 for rule 31 there shall be substituted—

“ Notification of requirement of secrecy

The returning officer shall make such arrangements as he thinks fit to ensure that—

(a)every person attending at a polling station (otherwise than for the purpose of voting or assisting a blind voter to vote or as a constable on duty there) has been given a copy in writing of the provisions of subsections (1), (3) and (6) of section 66 of this Act; and

(b)every person attending at the counting of the votes (other than any constable on duty at the counting) has been given a copy in writing of the provisions of subsection (2) and (6) of that section.”.

81In Schedule 1 in rule 37(1)(b) for the words “name and description” there shall be substituted the words “and name”.

82In Schedule 1 in rule 45 (the count) for paragraph (1) there shall be substituted—

“(1)The returning officer shall—

(a)in the presence of the counting agents open each ballot box and count and record the number of ballot papers in it;

(b)in the presence of the election agents verify each ballot paper account; and

(c)count such of the postal ballot papers as have been duly returned and record the number counted.

(1A)The returning officer shall not count the votes given on any ballot papers until—

(a)in the case of postal ballot papers, they have been mixed with the ballot papers from at least one ballot box, and

(b)in the case of ballot papers from a ballot box, they have been mixed with the ballot papers from at least one other ballot box.”.

83In Schedule 1 in rule 53—

(a)in paragraph (2) (return of deposit) for the words “as soon as practicable after” there shall be substituted the words “not later than the next day after that on which”;

(b)after that paragraph there shall be inserted—

“(2A)For the purposes of paragraph (2) above—

(a)a day shall be disregarded if it would be disregarded under rule 2 above in computing any period of time for the purposes of the timetable for an election of the kind in question; and

(b)the deposit shall be treated as being returned on a day if a cheque for the amount of the deposit is posted on that day.”.

84In Schedule 1 in the Appendix of forms the form of the front of a ballot paper shall be amended by the insertion at the top of the words “VOTE FOR ONE CANDIDATE ONLY” in large capitals.

85In Schedule 1 in the Appendix of forms in the directions as to printing the ballot paper—

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

(b)in paragraph 2(b) after the word “except” there shall be inserted the words “the horizontal rule separating the direction mentioned in paragraph (a) above from the particulars of the candidates and”;

(c)in paragraph 2(c) for the words from “the candidates” onwards there shall be substituted the words “the direction mentioned in paragraph (a) above and each of the candidates by the horizontal rules mentioned in paragraph (b) above”; and

(d)after paragraph 2 there shall be inserted—

“2AThe direction mentioned in paragraph 2(a) above shall be printed in large capitals.”.

86In Schedule 1 in the Appendix of forms, for the form of directions for the guidance of the voters in voting there shall be substituted—

“ Form of directions for the guidance of the voters in voting

Guidance for Voters

1When you are given a ballot paper make sure it is stamped with the official mark.

2Go to one of the compartments. Mark a cross (X) in the box on the right hand side of the ballot paper opposite the name of the candidate you are voting for.

3Fold the ballot paper in two. Show the official mark to the presiding officer, but do not let anyone see your vote. Put the ballot paper in the ballot box and leave the polling station.

4Vote for one candidate only. Put no other mark on the ballot paper, or your vote may not be counted.

5If by mistake you spoil a ballot paper, show it to the presiding officer and ask for another one.”.

Other Schedules

87In Schedule 2 (regulations as to registration)—

(a)for paragraph 8 there shall be substituted—

“8Provisions requiring the registration officer to prepare a special list of those persons entitled to be registered whose addresses are not required to be shown on the electors lists or of any class of such persons, showing the addresses of the person concerned.”;

(b)paragraph 9 shall cease to have effect; and

(c)after paragraph 11 there shall be inserted—

“11A(1)Provisions authorising or requiring registration officers who are data users to supply data, or documents containing information extracted from data and in such form as may be prescribed, to such persons as may be prescribed on payment of a prescribed fee.

(2)In this paragraph ”data user’ and ”data’ have the same meanings as in section 1 of the Data Protection Act 1984.”.

88In Schedule 3 (return and declarations as to election expenses) in paragraph 2 of the Form of Declarations for the word “transmitted” there shall be substituted the word “delivered”.

89In Schedule 4 (election expenses at certain local elections in England and Wales)—

(a)in paragraph 3 for the word “send” there shall be substituted the word “deliver”; and

(b)in paragraph 4(2) for the words from the beginning to “(b)” there shall be substituted the words—

“(2)Civil proceedings for a penalty under this paragraph 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.

(3)For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2) above”.

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