199.This section provides that, where the date of a referendum poll is determined under any provision made by or under the Act providing for the referendum to be held (ie. when a Minister fixes the date), there must be a period of at least 28 days from the date by which the Electoral Commission must designate campaign organisations to the date of the poll. This minimum period is intended to ensure that a designated campaign organisation is afforded sufficient opportunity to mount an effective campaign and to make full use of the benefits afforded to it under section 110. This section does not apply to a referendum where the date of the poll is specified on the face of the Act providing for the referendum to be held. Nonetheless, the expectation in such cases will similarly be that there will be at least 28 days for campaigning following the designation of campaign organisations. By virtue of this section, together with the timetable for designation of umbrella campaign organisations under section 109, the minimum referendum period for any particular referendum would normally be ten weeks.
Commentary on Sections Part VII : Referendums Section 103 : Date of poll