Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2002

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Amendment of Local Elections Regulations 1995.

3.—The Local Elections Regulations 1995 ( S.I. No. 297 of 1995 ) are amended—

(a) in article 11, by substituting the following for paragraph (b):

“(b) the local authority offices where electors may assent to the nomination of a candidate referred to in article 14(6A),”,

(b) in article 14(2), by substituting “nomination paper in the form directed by the Minister.” for “nomination paper in the form specified in Part 1 of the Schedule.”,

(c) in article 14, by inserting the following after sub-article (6):

“(6A) In the case of a candidate whose candidature is not authenticated by a certificate of political affiliation under sub-article (5), the candidate's nomination shall, before delivery of the candidate's nomination paper to the returning officer in accordance with article 18, be assented to by 15 persons (excluding the candidate and any proposer) who are electors in the local electoral area.

(6B) The following provisions apply in respect of the assents required by sub-article (6A) to the nomination of a candidate referred to in that sub-article:

(a) the candidate or the candidate's proposer, if any, shall complete part of a nomination paper as directed on the nomination paper and lodge the paper in the offices of the local authority for which the election is held;

(b) the local authority shall number any nomination papers lodged under paragraph (a) in the order in which they are lodged;

(c) where more than one nomination paper for the same candidate is lodged with the local authority, the first such nomination paper shall be deemed to be the nomination paper for that candidate for that election unless the candidature is withdrawn under article 22 or is deemed under article 25(2) or 28(1) to have been withdrawn;

(d) to assent to the nomination, an elector in the local electoral area shall sign the candidate's nomination paper and produce a specified photographic identification to the local authority official;

(e) the local authority official shall note the following details on the nomination paper and then sign the note:

(i) the assentor's number on the register of electors;

(ii) the form of identification produced by the assentor, including any number on it;

(iii) the time and date of the assentor's signature on the paper;

(f) where the nomination paper bears the signatures of more than the required number of qualified assentors, the signatures (up to the required number of those assentors) appearing first on the nomination paper shall be taken into account to the exclusion of any others;

(g) where an elector in the constituency signs as assentor the nomination papers of 2 or more different candidates in the same election, that elector's signature on the first such nomination paper lodged with the local authority shall alone be regarded and the elector's signature on every other nomination paper shall be disregarded.

(6C) For the purposes of sub-articles (6A) and (6B)—

(a) a person whose application to have his or her name entered in the supplement to the register is approved by the registration authority at or before the latest time for delivery of a nomination paper to the returning officer shall be deemed to be an elector in the local electoral area, and

(b) any type of photographic identification that for the time being is prescribed under section 3 of the Act of 1992 for the purposes of section 46(4B)(d) of that Act is considered to be ‘specified photographic identification’ as referred to in sub-article (6B)(d).”,

(d) by revoking articles 15 and 16,

(e) in article 20, by substituting the following for sub-article (1):

“(1) The returning officer shall rule on the validity of each nomination paper within one hour after its delivery and may rule that it is invalid if, but only if, the returning officer considers that—

(a) in the case of the nomination paper of a candidate referred to in article 14(6A), the nomination is not assented to in the manner required by article 14, and

(b) in the case of the nomination paper of any candidate, the paper is for any other reason not properly made out or signed.”,

(f) in article 20(7), by deleting “15(1)”,

(g) by revoking article 86(3), and

(h) by revoking Part 1 of the Schedule.