Citation, commencement and extent

1.-(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Elections (Fresh Signatures for Absent Voters) Regulations 2013 and come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.

(2) This regulation extends to England, Wales, Scotland and Gibraltar.

(3) Regulation 2 extends to England and Wales.

(4) Regulation 3 extends to Scotland.

(5) Regulation 4 extends to England, Wales, Scotland and Gibraltar.

Modification of the requirement to provide fresh signatures at five yearly intervals

2.-(1) In the period beginning on 31st July 2013 and ending on 31st December 2014 the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001(6) shall have effect with the following modification.

(2) Regulation 60A (requirement to provide fresh signatures at five yearly intervals) shall have effect as if for paragraph (1) there were substituted-

"(1) Every person who remains an absent voter and whose signature held on the personal identifiers record would be more than five years old on 31 January 2014 must be sent a notice in writing by the registration officer no earlier than 1 August 2013 and no later than 19 August 2013-

(a)requiring the person to provide a fresh signature, and

(b)informing the person of the date (six weeks from the date of sending the notice) on which the person would cease to be entitled to vote by post or by proxy in the event of a failure or refusal to provide a fresh signature.".

3.-(1) In the period beginning on 31st July 2013 and ending on 31st December 2015 the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001(7) shall have effect with the following modification.

(2) Regulation 60A (requirement to provide fresh signatures at five yearly intervals) shall have effect as if for paragraph (1) there were substituted-

"(1) Every person who remains an absent voter and whose signature held on the personal identifiers record would be more than five years old on 31st January 2015 must be sent a notice in writing by the registration officer no earlier than 1st August 2013 and no later than 19th August 2013-

(a)requiring the person to provide a fresh signature, and

(b)informing the person of the date (six weeks from the date of sending the notice) on which the person would cease to be entitled to vote by post or by proxy in the event of a failure or refusal to provide a fresh signature.".

4.-(1) In the period beginning on 31st July 2013 and ending on 31st December 2014 the European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 2004(8) shall have effect with the following modification.

(2) Paragraph 31 of Schedule 2 (requirement to provide fresh signatures at five yearly intervals) shall have effect as if for sub-paragraph (1) there were substituted-

"(1) Every person who remains an absent voter and whose signature held on the personal identifiers record would be more than five years old on 31st January 2014 must be sent a notice in writing by the registration officer no earlier than 1st August 2013 and no later than 19th August 2013-

(a)requiring the person to provide a fresh signature, and

(b)informing the person of the date (six weeks from the date of sending the notice) on which the person would cease to be entitled to vote by post or by proxy in the event of a failure or refusal to provide a fresh signature.";

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations modify (for a limited period) the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001, the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 and the European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 2004 in line with the transitional arrangements for the implementation of individual electoral registration under the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013. They modify the provisions relating to the mandatory signature refresh for absent voters so that the absent voters who would otherwise be requested to provide a new example of their signature in January 2014 (and, in Scotland, in January 2015) will instead be requested to do so between 1st and 19th August 2013.

Regulation 2 makes provision for these changes in relation to absent voters for parliamentary and local government elections in England and Wales by amending the relevant absent voter fresh signatureprovisions in the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001.

Regulation 3 makes provision for these changes in relation to absent voters for parliamentary and local elections in Scotland by amending the relevant absent voter fresh signature provisions in the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001. However in Scotland both the January 2014 and the January 2015 fresh signature requests are brought forward to August 2013 by this regulation because the transitional implementation of individual elector registration in Scotland is scheduled to take place in 2015 as well as in 2014.

Regulation 4 makes provision for these changes in relation to absent voters for European parliamentary elections in England, Wales, Scotland and Gibraltar by amending the relevant absent voter refresh provisions in the European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 2004.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.