Background
3.The purpose of the Act is to provide the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland with additional functions to address the problem of electoral fraud there. The Act gives effect to many of the proposals in the White Paper, Combating Electoral Fraud in Northern Ireland (Cm. 5080), which was published in March 2001. The Act makes changes to the law in Northern Ireland only.
4.The identification of voters at the polling station in Northern Ireland is already more controlled than elsewhere in the UK. Every voter must present one of a number of specified identity documents at the polling station before he is given a ballot paper. This safeguard was introduced by the Elections (Northern Ireland) Act 1985 to prevent personation. The White Paper (paragraph 38) reported concern at the ease with which identity documents could be falsified. Amongst the specified documents which may currently be presented, only the passport and the Northern Ireland driving licence contain any photographic identity of the holder (although the new photographic Senior SmartPass issued under the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares scheme for use from 1 May 2002 will shortly be added to the list of specified documents). The remaining non-photographic identity documents are regarded as providing insufficient proof of identity.
5.Once a voter has identified himself, the presiding officer must issue a ballot paper. If a candidate, or his election or polling agent believes that the voter is not who he claims to be, he may require the presiding officer to ask the two statutory questions – “are you x?” and “have you already voted in this election (other than as a proxy)?” If the voter answers to the satisfaction of the presiding officer the ballot paper must be presented.
6.Since the commencement of the Elections (Northern Ireland) Act 1985, and before the coming into force of the Representation of the People Act 2000 in February 2001, the law required that a presiding officer in Northern Ireland should not grant a blind voter’s application to voter with the assistance of another person unless the voter had produced a specified document to identify himself. Amendments made by section 13 of the Representation of the People Act 2000 widened the scope of the law in question to cover other physical disability and an inability to read. These amendments came into force in Northern Ireland, but without the provision for specified documents. Section 5 re-introduces that provision and restores the position in Northern Ireland to what it previously was.