45.Section 5 requires the Commission to prepare and publish reports on the administration of elections to the United Kingdom, European and Scottish Parliaments and to the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies and of referendums to which Part VII of the Act applies (that is, a referendum held throughout the United Kingdom or one or more of its constituent parts, or in one or more of the nine English regions specified in Schedule 1 to the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998). Subsection (3) additionally provides for the Commission, if requested to do so by the National Assembly for Wales, to report on referendums held under section 36 of the Government of Wales Act 1998. (Section 36 of the 1998 Act empowers the National Assembly for Wales to hold a poll for the purpose of ascertaining the views of the public about whether or how any of the Assembly’s functions should be exercised.)
Commentary on Sections Commission’s general functions Section 5 : Reports on elections and referendums