F1SCHEDULE 7THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING BUSINESS REFERENDUMS RULES

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Amendments (Textual)

PART 6Polling stations

Provision of polling stations43

1

The counting officer must provide a sufficient number of polling stations and, subject to the following provisions of this rule, must allot the named voters to the polling stations in such manner as the counting officer thinks most convenient.

2

One or more polling stations may be provided in the same room.

3

The counting officer must provide each polling station with such number of compartments as may be necessary in which the named voters can mark their votes screened from observation.

4

The polling station allotted to a named voter who is also voting in person at the corresponding residential referendum must as far as practicable be in the same polling place as the polling station allotted to that person for the corresponding residential referendum.

The appointment of presiding officers and polling clerks44

1

The counting officer must appoint and pay a presiding officer to attend at each polling station and such clerks as may be necessary for the purposes of the business referendum.

2

The counting officer may, if that officer thinks fit, preside at a polling station and the provisions of these Rules relating to a presiding officer apply to a counting officer so presiding with the necessary modifications as to things to be done by the counting officer to the presiding officer or by the presiding officer to the counting officer.

3

A presiding officer may do, by the clerks appointed to assist the officer, any act (including the asking of questions) which the officer is required or authorised by these Rules to do at a polling station except order the arrest, exclusion or removal of any person from the polling station.

Issue of official poll cards45

1

The counting officer must as soon as practicable after each publication of the business voting register under paragraph 30(1) of Schedule 6 send an official poll card to each named voter who has chosen to vote in person.

2

The official poll card must be sent or delivered to the address shown on the voters list.

3

The official poll card must be in the form set out in Form 5 in the Appendix, or a form to like effect, and must set out—

a

the name of the relevant council and of the neighbourhood area;

b

the name of the named voter, the business vote holder on whose behalf they are voting and the number on the business voting register;

c

the date and hours of the poll and the situation of the named voter’s polling station;

d

such other information as the counting officer thinks appropriate,

and different information may be provided in pursuance of sub-paragraph (d) to different named voters or to different descriptions of named voter.

Equipment of polling stations46

1

The counting officer must provide each presiding officer with such number of ballot boxes and ballot papers as in the counting officer’s opinion may be necessary.

2

Every ballot box must be so constructed that the ballot papers can be put in it, but cannot be withdrawn from it, without the box being unlocked or, where the box has no lock, the seal being broken.

3

The counting officer must provide each polling station with—

a

materials to enable named voters to mark the ballot papers;

b

copies of such part of the business voting register as contains the names of the named voters allotted to the station;

c

the parts of any voters list corresponding to the business voting register or the part of it provided under sub-paragraph (b);

d

a list, in the form set out in Form 6 in the Appendix or a form to like effect, consisting of that part of the list prepared under rule 8 which contains the numbers (but not the other unique identifying marks) corresponding to those on the ballot papers provided to the presiding officer of the polling station.

4

The reference in paragraph (3)(b) to the copies of the business voting register includes any alterations made to that register under Schedule 6.

5

The counting officer must also provide each polling station with—

a

at least one large version of the ballot paper which must be displayed inside the polling station for the assistance of named voters who are partially sighted; and

F4b

such equipment as it is reasonable to provide for the purposes of enabling, or making it easier for, relevant persons to vote independently in the manner directed by rule 54 (voting procedure), including in relation to voting secretly; and for this purpose “relevant persons” means persons who find it difficult or impossible to vote in that manner because of—

i

blindness or partial sight, or

ii

another disability.

F55A

Paragraph (10) of rule 29 of Schedule 1 to the 1983 Act (Parliamentary elections rules: guidance to returning officers) applies for the purposes of paragraph (5)(b) of this rule as it applies for the purposes of that rule, but as if—

a

the reference in that paragraph to the returning officer were a reference to the counting officer, and

b

the reference in that paragraph to paragraph (3A)(b) were a reference to paragraph (5)(b) of this rule.

6

A notice in the form set out in Form 7 in the Appendix, giving directions for the guidance of named voters in voting, must be printed in conspicuous characters and exhibited inside and outside every polling station.

7

The counting officer may also provide copies of the notice mentioned in paragraph (6) in Braille or translated into languages other than English as the counting officer considers appropriate, provided that these notices are accurate reproductions in Braille or that other language of that notice.

8

In every compartment of every polling station there must be exhibited the notice “BUSINESS REFERENDUM ON [specify: neighbourhood plan/neighbourhood development order] FOR [specify name of neighbourhood area]. Mark a cross (X) in the box next to the answer of your choice. Vote ONCE only. Do not mark the ballot paper in any other way, or your vote may not be counted.”

F69

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Appointment of polling observers and counting observers47

1

The counting officer may appoint persons to attend at polling stations for the purpose of detecting personation (“polling observers”).

2

The counting officer must appoint persons to observe the counting of the votes and the verification of the ballot paper account (“counting observers”).

3

In these Rules references to polling observers and counting observers are to be taken as references to polling observers and counting observers whose appointments have been duly made.

4

Where by these Rules any act or thing is required or authorised to be done in the presence of the polling observers or counting observers, the non-attendance of any such person at the time and place appointed for the purpose does not, if the act or thing is otherwise duly done, invalidate the act or thing done.

Notification of requirement of secrecy48

F21

The counting officer must make such arrangements as the counting officer thinks fit to ensure that—

a

every person attending at a polling station (otherwise than for the purpose of voting or assisting a named voter with disabilities to vote or as a constable on duty there) has been given a copy in writing of the provisions of subsections (1), (3) and (6) of section 66 of the 1983 Act, as applied by Schedule 8; and

b

every person attending at the counting of the votes (other than any constable on duty at the counting) has been given a copy in writing of the provisions of subsections (2) and (6) of that section, as applied by Schedule 8.

F32

In this rule, a reference to a constable includes a person designated as a community support officer under section 38 of the Police Reform Act 2002 (police powers for employees).