The Electoral Administration Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed on 11 July 2006.
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| Long title | An Act to make provision in relation to the registration of electors and the keeping of electoral registration information; standing for election; the administration and conduct of elections and referendums; and the regulation of political parties. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 2006 c. 22 |
| Introduced by | Harriet Harman[2] |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 11 July 2006 |
| Commencement | Multiple dates[3] |
Status: Amended | |
| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
Among its main provisions, the Act:
- Provides a legislative framework for setting up a "Coordinated Online Record of Electors", known as "CORE", to co-ordinate electoral registration information across regions.
- Creates new criminal offences for supplying false electoral registration details or for failure to supply such details.
- Allows people to register anonymously on electoral registers if a 'safety test' is passed.
- Requires local authorities to review all polling stations, and to provide a report on the reviews to the Electoral Commission.
- Provides for the making of signature and date of birth checks on postal vote applications.
- Revises the law on "undue influence".
- Allows observers to monitor elections (with the exception of Scottish local government elections, which are the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament).
- Reduces the age of candidacy for public elections from 21 to 18.
- Allows for alterations to ballot paper designs, including the introduction of barcodes and pilot schemes for the introduction of photographs on ballot papers.
- Allows citizens of the Republic of Ireland and certain Commonwealth residents the right to stand in elections.
- Changes rules on how elections are run in the event of the death of a candidate, following the events in South Staffordshire at the 2005 general election.
- Provides for the entitlement of children to accompany parents and carers into polling stations.
- Bars candidates from using in their name or description expressions such as "Don't vote for them" or "None of the above".
- Bars candidates from standing in more than one constituency at the same election.
- Allows political parties up to 12 separate descriptions to be used on ballot papers, and allows joint candidature.
- Requires local authorities to promote and encourage electoral registration and voting.
- Amongst other provisions affecting members of the armed forces and other persons with a "service qualification", allows the Secretary of State to extend the period of validity (previously one year) of a "service declaration" by which qualified persons may have their names placed on the electoral register as "service voters";[4] the Act also imposes new duties upon the Ministry of Defence.
- Removes the requirement for an observer to witness the signing of the security statement of a postal vote.
- Requires political parties to declare large loans. This provision was introduced as an amendment, surviving much parliamentary ping-pong, following the "Cash for Peerages" scandal.
Some of its provisions came into effect upon it receiving assent,[5] with other provisions commencing on other dates.[3]
Coordinated Online Record of Electors edit
The proposed Coordinated Online Record of Electors[6] was never established, and plans for it were shelved by the coalition government in 2011.[7] The legal framework was later repealed by the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013.[citation needed]
References edit
- ^ The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised by section 79 of this Act.
- ^ "HC Hansard Vol. 437 No. 42 Col. 169". 11 October 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
- ^ a b "The Electoral Administration Act 2006 (Commencement No. 7) Order 2008", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 13 May 2008, SI 2008/1316, retrieved 25 January 2022
- ^ This power was exercised in 2006 to extend the period to three years. "The Service Voters' Registration Period Order 2006", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2006/3406, retrieved 25 January 2022
- ^ per Section 77 of the Act
- ^ "The Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors (CORE) – The implementation of national access arrangements" (PDF). Department for Constitutional Affairs. 14 December 2005. CP 29/05. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
- ^ "£11 million saved as electors database plan abandoned". Government of the United Kingdom. 18 July 2011.
External links edit
- The Electoral Administration Act 2006, as amended from the National Archives.
- The Electoral Administration Act 2006, as originally enacted from the National Archives.
- Explanatory notes to the Electoral Administration Act 2006.
- Department for Constitutional Affairs – Legislation – Electoral Administration Act 2006
- House of Commons Library – Armed Forces Voting
- Statutory Instrument 2006 No. 3412 (C. 128), a Statutory Instrument issued by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, 18 December 2006, bringing much of the Act into legal effect
- Research on Electoral Administration