United Kingdom

Representation of the People Act (1983, last amended 2013)

Updated: June 2015

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Part I, article 1 states:

(1) A person is entitled to vote as an elector at a parliamentary election in any constituency if on the date of the poll he

  • (a) is registered in the register of parliamentary electors for that constituency,
  • (b) is not subject to any legal incapacity to vote (age apart),
  • (c) is either a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, and
  • (d) is of voting age (that is, 18 years or over).
Excerpt from the Representation of the People Act (1983, last amended 2013)

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Part I, article 1 states:

(1) A person is entitled to vote as an elector at a parliamentary election in any constituency if on the date of the poll he…

  • (b) is not subject to any legal incapacity to vote (age apart)…

 

Chapter 6, part 1, section 3a states:

(1) A person to whom this section applies is, during the time that he is

  • (a) detained at any place in pursuance of the order or direction by virtue of which this section applies to him or
  • (b) unlawfully at large when he would otherwise be so detained, legally incapable of voting at any parliamentary or local government election.

(2) As respects England and Wales, this section applies to the following persons:

  • (a) any person in respect of whom
    • (i) an order has been made under section 37, 38, 44, or 51(5) of the Mental Health Act 1983, or
    • (ii) a direction has been given under section 45A, 46 or 47 of that Act;
  • (b) any person in respect of whom an order has been made until section 5(2)(a) of the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964;….

(3) As respects Scotland, this section applies to the following persons:…

  • (b) any person in respect of whom a direction has been given under section 136 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, or section 95A of that Act of 1995.

(4) As respects Northern Ireland, this section applies to the following persons:

  • (a) any person in respect of whom
    • (i) an order has been made under Article 44, 45, 50A(2)(a), or 57(5) of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, or
    • (ii) a direction has been given under Article 52 or 53 of that Order”

 

Part I, article 7 states:

(1) This section applies to a person who

  • (a) is a patient in a mental hospital (whether or not he is liable to be detained there), but
  • (b) is not a person to whom section 3A above or section 7A below applies.

(2) A person to whom this section applies shall (subject to subsection (5) below) be regarded for the purposes of section 4 above as resident at the mental hospital in question if the length of the period which he is likely to spend at the hospital is sufficient for him to be regarded as being resident there for the purposes of electoral registration.

(3) A person registered in a register of electors in pursuance of an application for registration made by virtue of subsection (2) above is entitled to remain so registered until

  • (a) the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the date when the entry in the register first takes effect, or
  • (aa) the registration officer determines in accordance with regulations that the person was not entitled to be registered, or
  • (b) another entry made in respect of him in any register of electors takes effect (whether or not in pursuance of an application made by virtue of subsection (2)), whichever first occurs…

(5) Subsection (2) above shall not be taken as precluding the registration of a person to whom this section applies

  • (a) by virtue of his residence at some place other than the mental hospital in which he is a patient, or
  • (b) in pursuance of a declaration of local connection.
Excerpts from the Representation of the People Act (1983, last amended 2013)

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Part II, article 18B states:

(4) The following rules apply:

  • (a) the authority must seek to ensure that all electors in a constituency in its area have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances:
  • (b) the authority must seek to ensure that so far as is reasonable and practicable every polling place for which it is responsible is accessible to electors who are disabled;
  • (c) the authority must have regard to the accessibility to disabled persons of potential polling stations in any place which it is considering designating as a polling place or the designation of which as a polling place it is reviewing
Excerpt from the Representation of the People Act (1983, last amended 2013)