Part 1: Administration and Conduct of Elections Postal and Proxy Voting Section 5: Handing in postal voting documents
Section 5 amends Schedules 1 and 2 to the RPA 1983, introducing powers to allow regulations to be made setting out requirements for the handing in of postal votes to the Returning Officer and at polling stations, including setting a limit on the number of postal voters on behalf of whom a person may hand in postal votes, and for postal votes to be rejected if not handed in in accordance with the requirements.
	Subsection (4) amends rule 45 of Schedule 1 to the RPA 1983 which concerns the counting of votes at UK Parliamentary elections. Paragraph (1B) of rule 45 concerns the requirements for a postal ballot paper to be taken to be "duly returned" and therefore included in the count at a UK Parliamentary election in England, Wales or Scotland. Subsection (4) amends this to specify that a postal vote will be taken to be duly returned if the postal vote does not fall to be rejected under regulations made under this provision (more detail on rejection of postal votes is set out below). Subsection (4) also amends paragraph (2) of rule 45 which concerns the return of postal ballot papers to the Returning Officer at UK Parliamentary elections in Northern Ireland and the amendments make equivalent changes for these elections in Northern Ireland as set out above for UK Parliamentary elections in Great Britain.
	Subsection (5) amends Schedule 2 to the RPA 1983 which sets out provisions which may be contained in regulations as to registration and other matters. Paragraph 12 of Schedule 2 currently provides for regulations to be made in relation to the issue and receipt of postal ballot papers. Subsection (5) inserts a new paragraph 12ZA into Schedule 2 that sets out provisions that may be made where regulations under rule 45(1B)(a) or (b) in Schedule 1 to the RPA 1983 provide that a postal voting document may be handed in to a polling station or to the Returning Officer at UK Parliamentary elections in Great Britain.
	Under new paragraph 12ZA(2), regulations may require a person seeking to hand in a postal voting document to complete a form containing specific information, which the government anticipates would include, among other information, the name(s) of the postal voter(s) whose ballot papers are being handed in. Regulations may make provision to require the "relevant officer" receiving the ballot to reject the document if the person fails to complete the form. The relevant officer is defined, along with other terms, in new paragraph 12ZA(12) as: (i) the Presiding Officer or clerk at the polling station, where the postal vote is handed in at a polling station, or (ii) the Returning Officer or person acting under the authority of the Returning Officer where the postal vote is handed in to the Returning Officer. Regulations may also make provision as to the arrangements to be made in respect of those forms.
	New paragraph 12ZA allows regulations to require the rejection of postal ballots handed in on behalf of more than the maximum number of electors (in addition to the individual’s own postal ballots). The maximum number of other electors will be set out in secondary legislation. The individual handing in the postal voting documents on behalf of another will be able to hand in postal ballots for all the polls in which the elector(s) can vote.
	Under new subparagraph (3) of new paragraph 12ZA, the regulations may set out the procedure to be followed where an individual hands in postal voting documents on behalf of more than the prescribed number of electors. Provision may be made to require a relevant officer to reject postal voting documents handed in by a person who hands in ballots on behalf of more than the prescribed number of electors, or where a relevant officer has reasonable cause to suspect a person is handing in postal ballots on behalf of more than the prescribed number of electors. The maximum applies to all the postal ballots that are handed in together or, if the individual has already handed in postal ballots in relation to that election (or elections held on the same day), to the combined total of postal ballots handed in by that individual. Subparagraph (4) provides an explanation of the meaning of terms used in subparagraph (3).
	New paragraph 12ZA(5) provides that provision may be made to authorise the relevant officer to reject a postal voting document handed in by a person where they have reasonable cause to suspect that the person may be in breach of the offence under new section 112A of the RPA 1983 (offence relating to handling of postal voting documents).
	Under new paragraphs 12ZA(6) and (7), provision may be made in respect of a postal voting document that is rejected, or brought into a polling station or the offices of the Returning Officer so that it may be handed in, but is left behind there without being handed in; for the storage and disposal of those documents; and for the transfer of those documents to the Returning Officer and registration officer.
	New paragraph 12ZA(9) provides for notification that a postal ballot paper has been rejected or left behind. New paragraph 12ZA(10) specifies that the person to be notified is the person whose ballot paper is rejected, or where that person is a proxy, that person and the elector for whom the person voted as proxy.
	Subsection (5) also inserts new paragraph 12ZB into Schedule 2 to the RPA 1983 which allows equivalent provision to new paragraph 12ZA (in relation to UK Parliamentary elections in Great Britain) to be made about the handing in of postal votes to the Returning Officer at UK Parliamentary elections in Northern Ireland. Postal votes cannot be returned to the polling station in Northern Ireland.