Commentary on Sections Section 13: Canvass Form
74.The process for carrying out a canvass in Northern Ireland is set out in sections 10 and 10(1A) of the RPA 1983. Section 10(4) provides that the form used for the purposes of the canvass in Northern Ireland shall be a form prescribed for those purposes. In Great Britain, section 9D of the RPA 1983 (inserted by the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013) provides greater flexibility in relation to the form used for the annual canvass. Section 9D also envisages that the Electoral Commission might be required to design a canvass form.
75.Subsection (1) of this section amends section 10 of the RPA 1983 to remove the requirement to prescribe a canvass form, and replaces it with a duty to prescribe requirements as to the form or content of a canvass form. Subsection 1(c) makes amendments to allow the Secretary of State to require the Electoral Commission to design a canvass form. There already exists a power to make similar provision in relation to Great Britain in section 9D(4) of the RPA 1983, although that power is not restricted to the conferral of functions in relation to a canvass form.
76.Subsection (3) is a transitional provision to cater for the possibility that the amendments made by the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 have not yet come into force when this section comes into force (which will be 2 months after Royal Assent – see section 28(3)).