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Voting by blind and incapacitated persons.
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16.—(1) Rule 18 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (1):
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“24. (1) (a) If any voter satisfies the presiding officer that his sight is so impaired or that he is otherwise so physically incapacitated that he is unable to vote without assistance, and he requests that his ballot paper shall be marked for him by a companion, then, subject to subparagraph (b) of this paragraph, the companion may mark the ballot paper for the voter (and paragraph (3) of this rule shall accordingly not apply) and shall place it so marked in the ballot box, and,
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(b) For the purposes of subparagraph (a) of this paragraph—
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(i) the presiding officer may, and, if requested by a personation agent shall, administer to the elector before delivery of the ballot paper an oath (or, in the case of a person who objects to taking an oath on the ground that he has no religious belief or that the taking of an oath is contrary to his religious belief, an affirmation) in the following form:
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‘I swear by Almighty God (or—do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm—as the case may be) that my sight is so impaired (or—that I am so physically incapacitated—as the case may be) that I am unable to vote without assistance’ and if the voter refuses to take the oath or make the affirmation, the ballot paper shall not be marked for him under this rule;
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(ii) the presiding officer may, and, if requested by an agent of a candidate, shall, put to the companion before delivery of the ballot paper, the following questions or any one or two of them:
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(I) Have you attained the age of sixteen years?
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(II) Have you marked as a companion more than one ballot paper at this referendum?
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(III) Are you a personation agent at this referendum?
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and unless the first question is answered in the affirmative and the other question or questions, as the case may be, is or are answered in the negative the companion shall not mark the ballot paper;
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(iii) the presiding officer may, and, if requested by a personation agent, shall, administer to the companion before delivery of the ballot paper an oath (or, in the case of a person who objects to taking an oath on the ground that he has no religious belief or that the taking of an oath is contrary to his religious belief, an affirmation) in the following form:
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‘I swear by Almighty God (or—do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm—as the case may be) that I have attained the age of sixteen years and that I have not marked as a companion more than one ballot paper at this referendum and that I am not a personation agent thereat’ and if the companion refuses to take the oath or make the affirmation, he shall not mark the ballot paper;
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(c) If any voter satisfies the presiding officer that his sight is so impaired or that he is otherwise so physically incapacitated that he is unable to vote without assistance and either—
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(i) he does not request that his ballot paper shall be marked for him by a companion, or
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(ii) having so requested, the marking of his ballot paper by the companion would be in contravention of clause (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (b) of this paragraph,
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the presiding officer shall, in the presence of the personation agents (if any) and no other person, cause the vote of the voter to be marked on a ballot paper in the manner directed by the voter and shall place the ballot paper so marked in the ballot box.
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(d) For the purposes of subparagraph (c) of this paragraph, the presiding officer may, and, if requested by a personation agent, shall, administer to the voter before delivery of the ballot paper an oath (or, in the case of a person who objects to taking an oath on the ground that he has no religious belief or that the taking of an oath is contrary to his religious belief, an affirmation) in the form set out in clause (i) of subparagraph (b) of this paragraph, and if the voter refuses to take the oath or make the affirmation, the ballot paper shall not be marked for him under this rule.
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(e) If any voter satisfies the presiding officer that he is so illiterate that he is unable to vote without assistance, the presiding officer shall, in the presence of the personation agents (if any) and no other person, cause the vote of the voter to be marked on a ballot paper in the manner directed by such voter and shall place the ballot paper so marked in the ballot box.”
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(2) (a) Where, pursuant to paragraph (1) of Rule 18 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act (as amended by subsection (1) of this section) a person has marked as a companion two ballot papers, he shall not, at the same referendum, mark as a companion any other ballot paper.
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(b) A person shall not, pursuant to paragraph (1) of Rule 18 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act (as amended by subsection (1) of this section), mark as a companion a ballot paper at a referendum if he is a personation agent at that referendum.
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(c) A person who contravenes paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.
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(3) Paragraph (2) of Rule 18 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after “under this rule” of “otherwise than by a companion”.
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(4) Rule 13 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after “the personation agents (if any) appointed for his polling station,” of “companions of voters whose sight is so impaired or who are otherwise so physically incapacitated that they are unable to vote without assistance while such companions are assisting such electors”.
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