Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013

Section 1

SCHEDULE 1Register of electors: alterations and removal

1After section 10ZC of the Representation of the People Act 1983 insert—

“10ZDRegistration of electors in Great Britain: alterations

(1)A registration officer in Great Britain must alter the name or address in respect of which a person (“P”) is registered in a register maintained by the officer if—

(a)an application for alteration is made by someone who appears to the officer to be P,

(b)any requirements imposed by or under this Act in relation to the application are met, and

(c)P appears to the officer to be entitled to be registered in the register in respect of the new name or the new address (as the case may be).

(2)In determining an application under this section, the officer must consider any objection made in accordance with the prescribed requirements by another person whose name appears in the register.

(3)Regulations may make provision about the procedure for determining applications under this section.

10ZERemoval of electors in Great Britain from register

(1)Where a person is entered in a register in respect of an address in Great Britain, the person is entitled to remain registered until the registration officer concerned determines that—

(a)the person was not entitled to be registered in respect of the address,

(b)the person has ceased to be resident at the address or has otherwise ceased to satisfy the conditions for registration set out in section 4, or

(c)the person was registered as the result of an application under section 10ZC made by some other person or the person’s entry has been altered as the result of an application under section 10ZD made by some other person.

(2)Where a person’s entitlement to remain registered terminates by virtue of subsection (1), the officer must remove the person’s entry from the register.

(3)A registration officer may make house to house inquiries for the purpose of deciding whether or not to make a determination under subsection (1).

(4)Regulations may make provision about the procedure for making determinations under subsection (1), which may include provision requiring an officer to take prescribed steps before making a determination.

(5)A registration officer in Great Britain must consider whether to make a determination under subsection (1) if the officer—

(a)receives an objection to a person’s registration in a register maintained by the officer, or

(b)otherwise becomes aware of information that causes the officer to suspect that a condition in subsection (1)(a) to (c) may be met in relation to a person’s entry in such a register.

(6)Subsection (5)(a)—

(a)applies only if the objection to the person’s registration is made in accordance with the prescribed requirements by someone whose name appears in the register, and

(b)does not apply if the person has an anonymous entry in the register.

(7)Nothing in this section applies in relation to the registration of persons in pursuance of—

(a)applications for registration made by virtue of section 7(2) or 7A(2), or

(b)declarations of local connection, service declarations or overseas electors’ declarations.

(8)In this section “resident” means resident for the purposes of section 4.”

2(1)Registration officers in Great Britain must have regard to any guidance given by the Minister about the determination of applications under section 10ZD of the Representation of the People Act 1983.

(2)The guidance that may be given includes guidance about the process for determining whether the conditions in subsection (1) of that section are met and the relative weight to be given to different kinds of evidence.

(3)Sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) cease to have effect at the end of the period of 5 years beginning with the day on which they come fully into force.

3In section 13A(1)(d) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (alteration of registers to correct clerical errors), at the end insert “or, in the case of a registration officer in Great Britain, determines that the register contains any information that is incorrect.”