Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004

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SCHEDULE 3

Modification of Certain Provisions of Act of 1994

Section 7 .

For the purpose of the application by virtue of this Act to voting and the counting of votes at a referendum of certain provisions of the Act of 1994, the said provisions as so applied shall have effect as if—

(a) a reference in any such provision to a ballot paper or ballot papers, other than in the case of postal voting and voting by special voters, were a reference, where appropriate, to a ballot paper displayed on a voting machine;

(b) a reference in any such provision to mark or marking in relation to a ballot paper, other than in the case of postal voting and voting by special voters, were a reference to pressing the designated space on a ballot paper displayed on a voting machine;

(c) a reference in any such provision to a ballot box or ballot boxes, other than in the case of postal voting and voting by special voters, were a reference to a voting machine or voting machines;

(d) a reference in any section of the Act of 1994 to that Act included, where appropriate, a reference to this Act;

(e) in section 2(3) of that Act there were inserted after paragraph (i) the following paragraph;

“(ii) in section 75 of the said Act for ‘as a ballot box for the purposes of section 114’ there were substituted ‘in accordance with section 12 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004’;”;

(f) in section 7 of that Act, there were inserted “and the entering of votes on postal and special voter ballot papers on a voting machine” after “postal ballot boxes” in paragraph (c);

(g) in section 15(4) of that Act, for “open the ballot boxes and count the votes”, in each place where those words occur, there were substituted “open the postal voter ballot boxes and count the votes in accordance with the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004”;

(h) in section 24 of that Act—

(i) there were inserted “or Part IA” after “Part I” in paragraph (a) of subsection (1);

(ii) there were inserted “or Part IIA” after “Part II” in subsection (2); and

(iii) there were inserted “for postal and special voters” after “ballot papers” in each place where those words occur in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (5);

(i) in section 25(1) of that Act, there were inserted “for a postal or special voter” after “ballot paper”;

(j) in section 26 of that Act—

(i) there were inserted “and at the entry of votes on postal voters ballot papers on a voting machine” after “boxes” in paragraph (b) of subsection (1);

(ii) for “ballot boxes have been sealed by the presiding officer pursuant to section 110 of the Act of 1992 (as applied by section 32)” in subsection (6), there were substituted “voting machines are closed down by the presiding officer pursuant to section 11 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004”;

(iii) there were inserted “and the entry of votes on postal voters ballot papers on a voting machine” after “postal ballot boxes” where those words first occur in subsection (7) and there were inserted “and the votes on the postal voters ballot papers are entered on a voting machine” after “to be opened” in that subsection;

(k) in section 28(2) of that Act for “ballot paper placed in a ballot box” there were substituted “vote cast on a ballot paper on a voting machine”;

(l) in section 38 of that Act—

(i) in subsection (1) there were deleted all the words from “sealed packets” down to and including “polling stations,” and there were substituted “sealed packets the cartridges or discs from voting machines and the statements referred to in sections 9(1), 11(2) and 12(5) and (6) of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004”; and

(ii) for “section 114 of the Act of 1992 (as applied by section 33)” in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) there were substituted “ section 13 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004”;

(m) in section 39 of that Act there were substituted for paragraph (d) of subsection (2) the following:

“(d) the cartridges or discs referred to in subsection (1) of section 38 (as modified by virtue of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004) and the documents referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 12 (9) of that Act.”;

(n) in section 47 of that Act the following were substituted for subsections (1) to (4)—

“(1) The court may, for the purposes of the trial of a referendum petition, if it thinks fit, order—

(a) that all the votes cast at a referendum on voting machines in a constituency shall be counted afresh, or

(b) that all the votes so cast or recorded on cartridges or discs contained in particular voting machines shall be so counted,

and where the court so orders, the provisions of this section shall have effect. For the purpose of enabling such an order to be carried out, the software used for counting votes cast on voting machines shall include a capability of providing a table of the preferences recorded for each vote cast at the poll at the referendum, including the vote number referred to in section 13 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004 and a separate record of each vote cast at the referendum, showing the preference recorded on it and the vote number referred to in that section 13 .

(2) Votes to which an order under this section relates shall be counted afresh under the direction of the court and subject to subsections (3), (4) and (4A) and to such modifications (if any) as the court considers necessary.

(3) In counting the votes afresh pursuant to an order under this section, the count shall begin without disturbing the mix carried out by the constituency vote counting machine under section 13 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004.

(4) Where votes are counted afresh pursuant to an order under this section and the court decides that votes shall be added to, or removed from, the vote table, the software shall be capable of so adding or removing votes so that there shall be a minimum disturbance to the mix carried out by the constituency vote counting machine prior to the original count.

(4A) The court shall have power to reverse any decision of the local returning officer at the original count.”;

(o) in the Second Schedule to that Act—

(i) there were inserted after Part I, the following:

“Part IA

FORM OF BALLOT PAPER FOR USE ON A VOTING MACHINE AT CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

(Space for title if any)

and

(ii) there were inserted after Part II, the following:

“Part IIA

FORM OF BALLOT PAPER FOR USE ON A VOTING MACHINE AT ORDINARY REFERENDUM

(Space for title if any)