SCHEDULE 1Absent voting at Assembly elections

Additional requirements for applications for a proxy vote based on occupation, service, employment or attendance on a course5

1

An application to vote by proxy for a particular or indefinite period under article 8(2)(d) shall state—

a

whether the occupation, service or employment, in respect of which it is made, is that of the applicant or his spouse or civil partner or, as the case may be, whether it is the applicant or his spouse or civil partner who is attending the course provided by an educational institution in respect of which the application is made;

b

the nature of the occupation, service, employment or course provided by an educational institution giving rise to the application;

c

where the person in respect of whose occupation, service or employment it is made (in this paragraph referred to as “the employed person”) is self-employed, that fact; and, in any other case, the name of that person’s employer; and

d

the reason relevant to the general nature of the occupation, service or employment in question or the course provided by an educational institution, why the applicant cannot reasonably be expected to go in person to his allotted polling station.

2

Such an application shall be attested and signed—

a

where the employed person is self-employed, by a person who—

i

is aged 18 years or over;

ii

knows the employed person; and

iii

is not related to him;

b

by the employer of the employed person or by another employee to whom this function is delegated by the employer; or

c

in the case of a course provided by an educational institution, by the director or tutor of that course or by the principal or head of that institution or an employee to whom this function is delegated by the principal or head.

3

The person attesting an application under sub-paragraph (2) shall—

a

where the applicant is the employed person or the person attending the course, certify that the statements included in the application in accordance with the requirements of sub-paragraph (1)(a) to (d) are true; or

b

where the applicant is the spouse or civil partner of the employed person or the person attending the course, certify that the statements included in the application in accordance with the requirements of sub-paragraph (1)(a) to (c) are true.

4

The person attesting an application under sub-paragraph (2) shall also state—

a

in the case of a person who attests an application under sub-paragraph (2)(a), his name and address, and that he is aged 18 years or over, knows the employed person, but is not related to him; or

b

in the case of a person who attests an application under sub-paragraph (2)(b), either that he is the employer of the employed person or the position he holds in the employment of that employer; or

c

in the case of a person who attests under sub-paragraph (2)(c), the post he holds at the institution.

5

For the purpose of sub-paragraphs (2)(a) and (4)(a), one person is related to another if he is the spouse, civil partner, parent, grand-parent, brother, sister, child or grandchild of the other.