The National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) Order 2007

Return or forfeiture of deposit

65.—(1) The deposit made at an Assembly election under rule 10 shall either be—

(a) returned to the person making it or his personal representatives, in the case of a candidate at a constituency election or an individual candidate at a regional election;

(b) returned to the registered nominating officer of a registered political party which has submitted a party list, in the case of a regional election; or

(c) forfeited to the Secretary of State.

(2) Except in the cases mentioned in this rule, the deposit shall be returned not later than the next day after that on which the result or results of the election are declared.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2)—

(a) a day shall be disregarded if it would be disregarded under rule 2 in computing any period of time for the purposes of the timetable for the election; and

(b) the deposit shall be treated as being returned on a day if a cheque for the amount of the deposit is posted on that day.

(4) If, in the case of a constituency election, a candidate is not shown as standing nominated in the statement of persons nominated, or if the poll is countermanded or abandoned by reason of his death, his deposit shall be returned as soon as practicable after the publication of the statement or after his death(1), as the case may be.

(5) If, in the case of a regional election, an individual candidate or a registered political party is not shown as standing nominated in the statement of persons nominated, his or their deposit shall be returned as soon as practicable after publication of the statement.

(6) Subject to paragraph (4) the deposit shall be forfeited if in the case of a candidate for return as a constituency member, a poll is taken and after the counting of the votes by the constituency returning officer (including any re-count) is completed, the candidate is found to have polled not more than one twentieth of the total number of votes polled by all candidates in the constituency.

(7) Subject to paragraph (5), the deposit shall be forfeited if, in the case of a registered political party standing nominated or an individual candidate for return as a regional member, a poll is taken and after the total number of votes given for each registered party and each individual candidate has been counted, the registered political party or individual candidate is found to have polled not more than one twentieth of the total number of votes polled by all registered political parties and individual candidates in the region.

(8) Notwithstanding anything in paragraphs (2) to (7), if at an Assembly election a person is standing nominated as—

(a) a candidate at a constituency election; or

(b) an individual or party list candidate at a regional election,

and by virtue of such nomination he is in breach of—

(i) in relation to a constituency candidate, section 4(7) or section 8(7) of the 1998 Act; or

(ii) in relation to an individual or party list candidate, section 5(5) or, as the case may be section 5(6) of the 1998 Act(2),

then not more than one of the deposits shall be returned and, if necessary, the Secretary of State shall determine which it is to be.

(9) In respect of an Assembly election held after the 2007 Assembly general election, paragraph (8) shall have effect as if—

(a) in sub-paragraph (i), the references to sections 4(7) and 8(7)of the 1998 Act were respectively a reference to sections 7(1) and 10(9) of the 2006 Act; and

(b) in sub-paragraph (ii), the references to section 5(5) and section 5(6) of the 1998 Act, were respectively a reference to section 7(5) and section 7(6) of the 2006 Act.

(1)

See also Part 6 (Death of candidate) for further provision as to the return of deposits.

(2)

Section 5(5) and (6) of the Government of Wales Act is amended by paragraph 5 of Schedule 11 to the Government of Wales Act 2006.