Commentary Schedule 1: Further provision about voting in the referendum Part 4: Supply of register of local government electors etc.
91.Part 4 of schedule 1 deals with the supply of the register of electors and related documentation.
92.Paragraph 45 requires registration officers, at the request of the relevant counting officer, to supply to the counting officer the register of electors, any notices of alterations to the register of electors, and any record of anonymous entries. Counting officers may request as many copies as they reasonably require for the purposes of the referendum, and the copies must be provided free of charge. This includes a duty to supply up to two copies in data form. Counting officers should also be provided with as many free copies of the postal voters list, list of proxies and proxy postal voters list as they may reasonably require. Where any further notices of alterations are issued after the notices have been supplied, the duty extends to supplying those further notices. Anyone who receives a copy of a list under this paragraph is prohibited from supplying a copy, disclosing any of the information contained in it which is not also available in the edited copy of the local government register or making use of the information, except for the purposes of the referendum.
93.Paragraph 46 requires registration officers to supply a free copy of the latest version of the register of electors and any alterations, the postal voters list, the list of proxies, and the proxy postal voters list to the Electoral Commission (in data form unless a paper copy is requested). The registration officer must, on request, supply a further copy if the officer is satisfied that it is necessary to do so in the circumstances. The Electoral Commission and their staff are subject to restrictions around disclosing information contained in any of the documents. The Commission may, however, use the information contained in the register to fulfil their duties in relation to the permissibility of donors, and they may also publish anonymised voter information.
94.Paragraph 47 requires registration officers to supply to permitted participants in the campaign (as defined in schedule 3 paragraph 2) one copy of the full version of the local government register and any alterations, the postal voters list, the list of proxies, and the proxy postal voters list on their making a request in writing. The registration officer may, on request, supply a further copy if satisfied that it is necessary to do so in the circumstances. Unless otherwise requested, the copy must be supplied in data form. These copies are to be used only for the purposes of campaigning and complying with the controls on donations and regulated transactions in schedule 3. Permitted participants and their staff are subject to restrictions around disclosing information contained in any of the documents.
95.Paragraph 48 requires that copies of the register supplied under paragraphs 45, 46 or 47 are to contain the same information as in the register of electors, except for entries relating to person aged 16 or 17, where the dates on which they attain the age of 18 are to be omitted.
96.Paragraph 49 confirms that the duty on a registration officer under this schedule is a duty only to supply the data in the form in which the registration officer holds it, although they may supply it in any other form agreed with the recipient of the data.
97.Paragraph 50 is an additional general restriction on the use of registration documents by those other than those for whom they are intended (for the purposes of this paragraph, ‘registration documents’ means the register of electors, notices altering the register, record of anonymous entries, postal voters list, list of proxies, or proxy postal voters list), stating that any person who receives a copy of such a document must not supply any copies of that document, or disclose or make use of the information contained in it.
98.Paragraph 51 deals with offences in relation to disclosures of registration documents. A person is guilty of an offence if they breach any of the disclosure restrictions under this Part of the schedule (or if they are a supervisor of a person who does so and fail to take appropriate steps), unless they were under direction of a supervisor with whose instructions they complied, or unless they do not have such a supervisor and took all reasonable steps to prevent the breach. An offence under this paragraph carries a penalty, on summary conviction, of a fine of up to level 5 on the standard scale (£5,000 in January 2020).
99.Under paragraph 52, any person who holds a document supplied to a counting officer or a permitted participant under paragraphs 45 or 47 must securely destroy the document no later than one year after the referendum, unless the Court of Session or a sheriff principal orders otherwise. A person who fails to do so is guilty of an offence which carries a penalty, on summary conviction, of a fine of up to level 5 on the standard scale (£5,000 in January 2020).