Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011

6 (1) In rule 47 (rejected ballot papers), in the heading there is inserted at the end “and invalid markings”.

(2) In paragraph (1) of that rule—

(a) for sub-paragraph (b) there is substituted—

“(aa) on which the number 1 has not been marked against the name of any of the candidates, or

(b) on which the number 1 has been marked against the name of more than one candidate, or”,

(b) in sub-paragraph (d), for “void for uncertainty” there is substituted “is marked in a way that does not indicate a clear choice as to the voter’s first (or only) preference”;

(c) for the words after that sub-paragraph there is substituted “shall, subject to the following provisions, be rejected as void and not counted at any stage.”

(3) For paragraph (2) of that rule there is substituted—

“(2) A ballot paper on which a number is marked elsewhere than in a proper place shall not be deemed to be void for that reason alone.

(2A) If a ballot paper is marked with the same number (other than the number 1) against the name of more than one candidate, that number (each time it appears) and any numbers after the repeated numbers shall be ignored for the purposes of rule 45A above.

(2B) If—

(a) one or more preferences are validly marked on a ballot paper, and

(b) other marks are made on the paper which do not indicate a clear intention as to the voter’s next preference,

those other marks shall be ignored for the purposes of rule 45A above.

(2C) A ballot paper on which the voter makes any mark which—

(a) is clearly intended to indicate a particular preference for a particular candidate, but

(b) is not a number (or is a number written otherwise than as an arabic numeral),

shall be treated in the same way as if the appropriate number (written as an arabic numeral) had been marked instead.

(2D) In paragraph (2C) above a reference to a mark includes a reference to more than one mark.

(2E) Paragraphs (2B) and (2C) above apply only if the way the paper is marked does not itself identify the voter and it is not shown that the voter can be identified by it.”

(4) After paragraph (3) of that rule there is inserted—

“(3A) Where—

(a) any mark on a ballot paper is ignored by reason of paragraph (2A) or (2B) above, and

(b) the vote in question is not reallocated in accordance with rule 45A above, but would have been if the mark had been treated as indicating a preference for a remaining candidate,

the returning officer shall endorse the ballot paper in question with the words “not reallocated” and an indication of the stage at which the mark was ignored.

(3B) Where the returning officer endorses a ballot paper as mentioned in paragraph (3A), the officer shall add to the endorsement the words “decision objected to” if an objection is made by a counting agent to the decision.”

(5) In paragraph (4) of that rule—

(a) for sub-paragraph (b) there is substituted—

“(aa) not marking the number 1 against the name of any of the candidates;

(b) marking the number 1 against the name of more than one candidate;”;

(b) for sub-paragraph (d) there is substituted—

“(d) unmarked or marked in a way that does not indicate a clear choice as to the voter’s first (or only) preference.”