Notification of a rejected postal voting statement59A

1

Where a relevant absent voter appears on the list compiled under paragraph 55(4)—

a

the registration officer responsible for the personal identifiers record that contains information in respect of the absent voter must notify the absent voter (and the elector if the absent voter is a proxy) that the ballot paper concerned was rejected because the local returning officer was not satisfied that the postal voting statement was duly completed;

b

the registration officer must send the notification within the period of three months beginning with the date of the poll at which the ballot paper was rejected; and

c

the notification must include information as to which of the specified reasons referred to in paragraph 55(5) applied to the postal voting statement.

2

The registration officer is not obliged to send a notification—

a

to any person who is no longer shown as voting by post in the relevant record at the time the registration officer proposes to send the notification; or

b

where the registration officer suspects that an offence may have been committed in relation to the postal ballot paper, the postal voting statement or the absent voter’s registration as an elector.

3

A notification issued under sub-paragraph (1) may also include any other information that the registration officer considers appropriate, but a notification must not include information held on the personal identifiers record.

4

For the purposes of this paragraph and paragraph 59B, a “relevant absent voter” means an absent voter who—

a

appears on the postal voters list by virtue of paragraph 4(2)(a), or

b

appears as a proxy on the list of proxies by virtue of paragraph 4(3)(a).

Requirement to provide fresh signatures following rejection of a postal voting statement59B

1

This paragraph applies where a relevant absent voter is notified under paragraph 59A that the signature does not match the example held on the personal identifiers record, and the absent voter continues to be shown on the record kept under paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to the Representation of the People Act 200015 or paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 2004 as voting by post.

2

Where this paragraph applies, the registration officer may require the absent voter to provide a fresh signature for the personal identifiers record in accordance with regulation 60B(2) to (11) of the 2001 Regulations16 or, as the case may be, paragraph 31B(2) to (11) of Schedule 2 to the European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 200417.