Commentary on Sections Section 1: Registration: provision of signature, date of birth and other information
10.This section enables the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland to collect additional identifying information from registered electors. This additional personal data will not appear on the electoral register (apart from the date of birth of those who will become 18 in the coming year, as at present), but the information will be used in the electoral office and at polling stations for the purposes of making checks against the name of an elector when they apply for a postal vote or to vote by proxy, or attend at the polling station to obtain a ballot paper. The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland may dispense with the requirement for an elector to supply a signature in certain circumstances.
11.Subsection (2) amends section 10 of the Representation of the People Act 1983. It inserts two new subsections, (4A) and (4B), into section 10 which deals with the annual canvass of electors. In the case of the registration of parliamentary electors in Northern Ireland, subsection (4A) requires that an elector provides his signature, date of birth and national insurance number (or makes a statement that he does not have one). It also requires an elector to make a statement that he has been resident in Northern Ireland for the requisite three-month period before 15 October in the year in question and to state any other address in the UK in respect of which he is, or has applied to be, registered. Section 10 (4B) permits the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland to dispense with the requirement of signing for persons who cannot produce a consistent and distinctive signature due to incapacity or illiteracy. The reference to producing a consistent and distinctive signature is such because the signature is being obtained not just to authenticate the elector’s agreement to the inclusion of his details in the canvass form, but also as a unique identifying characteristic of himself. The power which the Secretary of State has to make regulations (having regard to the definition of “prescribed” in section 202(1) of the 1983 Act) to prescribe requirements is extended to give effect to these additional requirements.
12.Where this section amends the Representation of the People Act 1983 which (as respects Northern Ireland) applies only to the registration of parliamentary electors, the amendments carry through to the registration of local electors in Northern Ireland. This is because Schedule 1 to the Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act 1989 (as amended by Schedule 3 to the Representation of the People Act 2000) applied the relevant provisions in the 1983 Act for the purposes of the registration of local electors.
13.Subsection (3)(a) inserts new subsections (1A) and (1B) into section 10A of the Representation of the People Act 1983. Section 10A concerns registration officers’ duties in registering electors. The subsections (1A) and (1B) to be inserted add to the requirements relating to the authentication of applications for registration and identification of electors for electoral purposes. As with the provisions for returning the annual canvass form, the first of the inserted subsections (section 10A (1A)) requires a signature, date of birth, national insurance number (or a statement that the elector does not have one), confirmation of residency in Northern Ireland for the requisite three-month period before the date of application and details of any other address in the UK in respect of which the applicant is, or has applied to be registered. The second insertion (section 10A (1B)) permits the Chief Electoral Officer to dispense with the requirement for a signature in cases of incapacity or illiteracy. The power which the Secretary of State has to make regulations (having regard to the definition of “prescribed” in section 202(1) of the 1983 Act) to prescribe requirements is extended to give effect to these additional requirements.
14.Subsection (3)(c) inserts a new subsection (5A) into section 10A. It adds to the provisions contained in that section regarding the circumstances in which a person’s entitlement to remain on the electoral register terminates, and in which the registration officer must or may remove names from the register. Section 10A(5A) provides that the entitlement of a person to remain on the electoral register terminates if their annual canvass form does not include the additional information required by section 10 (4A) (unless the Chief Electoral Officer has decided it is not reasonably practicable for them to provide a signature). That entitlement also terminates if the Chief Electoral Officer (as registration officer) determines that he is not satisfied with the information relating to that person which was included in the form of canvass. This might occur where, for example, the form reveals that the person claims to be registered in respect of several addresses.
15.Subsection (4) amends section 13A of the Representation of the People Act 1983. Section 13A deals with amendments of the electoral register when individuals apply in between canvasses (for example, when they move house to a new constituency). The newly inserted subsections (2A) and (2B) follow the pattern of the amendments inserted into sections 10 and 10A. Section 13A(2A) provides that an application for inclusion in the electoral register for Northern Ireland must include an elector’s signature, date of birth, national insurance number (or a statement that the elector does not have one), confirmation of residency in Northern Ireland for the requisite three-month period before the date of application and details of any other address in the UK in respect of which the applicant is, or has applied to be registered. Section 13(2B) enables the Chief Electoral Officer to dispense with the requirement of a signature in cases of incapacity and illiteracy. The power which the Secretary of State already has in subsection (1)(a) to make regulations to prescribe requirements is extended to give effect to these additional requirements.