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BERMUDA
1978 : 23
PARLIAMENTARY
ELECTION ACT 1978
ARRANGEMENT OF
SECTIONS
PART I
PRELIMINARY
1 Interpretation
2 Meaning of resident and ordinarily
resident
PART II
THE RIGHT OF
REPRE SENTATION
3 Qualifications and dis qualifications for
registration
4 Entitlement to vote
5 Qualification for election
PART III
PARLIAMENTARY
REGIS TERS
6 Parliamentary Registrar and registration
officers
7 Parliamentary registers
8 Publication of parliamentary registers
9 Preparation of parliamentary registers
10 Right to be registered
11 Voters' lists
12 Householders and others to give information
to the Registrar
13 Registrar may require at tendance of persons
14 Scrutineers
15 Publication of draft registers
16 Notice of claim or objection
17 Objections to registration
18 Objections to omissions
19 Hearing of objections
20 Corrections to the draft registers
21 Other corrections to the draft registers
22 Publication of parliamentary registers
23 Corrections to the parlia mentary registers
24 Appeals to the Supreme Court
25 Voter's identification card
26 Preparation of new par liamentary registers
after report of a Boundaries Commission
PART IV
CALLING ELECTIONS
27 Issue of writs of election
27A Power to postpone elections
28 Endorsement over of writ in certain
circumstances
29 Duties of Returning Offi cers
30 Notice of election
31 Delivery of parliamentary registers etc. to
Returning Officer
PART V
NOMINATION
PROCEDURE
32 Nomination of candidates
33 Uncontested elections
34 Bye-election to fill unfilled vacancies
PART VI
CONTESTED
ELECTIONS
35 Special interpretation of Parts VI and VII
36 Taking a poll in contested election
37 Withdrawal of candidate
38 Death of candidate
39 Duration of poll
40 Advanced polls for sick, infirm and absent
voters
41 Advanced polls for inca pacitated voters
42 Conduct of advanced polls
43 General duties of Return ing Officer as to
taking of poll
44 Adjournment of poll in special circumstances
45 Rules for taking a poll
46 Ballot papers
47 Premises not to be used as committee rooms
PART VII
VOTING PROCEDURE
48 Issue of ballot papers
49 Identification of intending voters
50 Challenge of intending voters
51 Marking the ballot paper
52 Incapacitated voters
53 Spoilt ballot papers
54 Void ballot papers
55 Arrest of voter for person ation
PART VIII
CLOSE OF POLL
PROCE DURE
56 Count of ballots
57 Procedure in the event of a tie
58 Return of writ of election
59 Disposal of deposits
PART IX
OFFENCES
60 Secrecy during and after poll
61 Misconduct at parlia mentary election
62 Returning Officer to be conservator of peace
63 No person to carry offen sive weapons or
propa ganda apparatus on polling day
64 Bribery
65 Undue influence
66 Punishment for bribery and undue influence
67 Standing for election of unqualified persons
68 Personation and voting if not qualified
69 Offences relating to voting
70 Supplying intoxicating liquor by way of
organized treating
71 Disqualifications
72 Publishing of forms
73 Breaches of official duty
74 General penalty
PART X
MISCELLANEOUS
75 Registrar to retain docu ments
76 Rules
77 Duty of Commissioner of Prisons
78 Printing of forms at public expense
79 [omitted]
80 [omitted]
81 [omitted]
SCHEDULE
Rules for the
taking of a poll
[7 June 1978]
[preamble and
words of enactment omitted]
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Interpretation
1 (1) In
this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
"bye-election"
means a parliamentary election to fill a casual va cancy in the House of
Assembly;
"constituency"
means one of the constituencies into which Bermuda is divided in accordance
with the Constitution [title 2 item 1];
"election
agent" has the meaning given in section 32(6);
"election
room" means the place appointed in a writ of election for a parliamentary
election to take place;
"excepted
day" means a Sunday or other public holiday as de fined by the Public
Holidays Act 1947 [title 28 item 8];
"general
election" means a parliamentary election to constitute a new House of
Assembly pursuant to section 51(1) of the
Con stitution [title 2 item 1];
"general
register" means the register referred to in section 7(2);
"House of
Assembly" means any House of Assembly about to as semble or being
assembled in Bermuda pursuant to the Con stitution
[title 2 item 1];
"independent
candidate" has the meaning given in section 32(4);
"nomination
day" means the day appointed for the nomination of candidates for a
parliamentary election in accordance with
section 30;
"parliamentary
election" means an election of a person to serve as a member of the House
of Assembly and consists of the
nomination of candidates, the taking of a poll
if necessary and the declaration of the result of the election, in accor dance
with
this Act;
"parliamentary
elector" or "elector" means a person entitled to vote at a
parliamentary election in a constituency
in accor dance with section 4;
"parliamentary
register" means a register referred to in section 7(1);
"party
candidate" has the meaning given in section 32(3);
"person"
means an individual natural person;
"polling
place" means that part of an election room which is set aside, and
separated by a barrier, from the other parts
of an election room pursuant to
sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (1) of rule 2 of the Rules contained in the
Schedule;
"qualifying
date" means the date fixed as such by section 8(2);
"Registrar"
means the Parliamentary Registrar appointed under section 6 and, to the extent
that a registration officer
is au thorized to exercise the powers or perform
the duties of the Parliamentary Registrar under section 6(4), includes such registration
officer;
"registration"
with its grammatical variations and cognate ex pressions includes the transfer
of registration from the
par liamentary register of one constituency to that of
another;
"registration
officer" means a person appointed as such under section 6;
"Returning
Officer" has the meaning given in section 29 and, to the extent that a
presiding officer appointed pursuant
to sec tion 29(3) is authorized to
exercise the powers or perform the duties of a Returning Officer, includes such
presiding officer;
"scrutineer"
means a person appointed under section 14 to be a scrutineer for a
constituency;
"voter's
identification card" means a card for which provision is made in section
25;
"voters'
list" means the current voters' list prepared and pub lished in accordance
with section 11.
(2) In reckoning a period of time for any of the
purposes of this Act all days, whether excepted days or not, shall be counted
unless
it is otherwise expressly provided.
(3) Where in this Act any person is required to
make or sign a declaration he shall do so on oath or with solemn affirmation.
Meaning of
resident and ordinarily resident
2 (1) For
the purpose of this Act, the place where a person is or dinarily resident shall
be taken to be the place where he is resident
un less he satisfies the
Registrar that he is ordinarily resident in some other place,
(2) Subject to this section, the place where a
person is resident shall be taken to be —
(a) if the person is a married person, the place
where his family lives and sleeps and to which, when away he in tends to return
or,
if he is living apart from his family with the intent of remaining apart
from it, then the place where he lives and sleeps and to
which when away he
intends to return, without regard to the place where he takes his meals or is
employed; and
(b) if the person is unmarried, then the place
where he lives and sleeps the majority of the time.
(3) No person shall, for the purpose of this
Act, be deemed to be resident in lodgings, or a hostel, refuge or similar
institution con
ducted for charitable or benevolent purposes, unless that
person has been in continuous residence in such lodgings or such hostel,
refuge
or similar institution for at least ten days immediately preceding the quali fying
date and intends to live there indefinitely.
(4) No person shall, for the purposes of this
Act, be deemed to be resident in a hospital, a home for the aged, or other
institution
for the treatment of any chronic illness or disability unless that
person has been in continuous residence therein for at least
ten days
immediately pre ceding the qualifying date and intends to live there
indefinitely.
(5) A person shall not be deemed to have changed
his place of residence by reason only of his absence from Bermuda for a period of
not
more than six months if he intends to continue to reside in Bermuda.
PART II
THE RIGHT OF
REPRESENTATION
Qualifications
and disqualifications for registration
3 (1) A
person is qualified for registration in the parliamentary register of a
constituency if he is qualified and is not disqualified,
under section 55 of
the Constitution [title 2 item 1] and
this Act on the qualify ing date.
(2) For the purposes of section 55(2)(c) of the
Constitution [title 2 item 1] a
person is disqualified for registration as an elector if on the qualifying
date, he is in prison or is detained in a senior
training school or if, having
been sentenced to a term of imprisonment, preventive de tention or corrective
training the adjudged
term of his sentence has not yet expired, whether or not
he is then at large on licence, unless he has been granted a free pardon
or has
been granted remission under section 10 of the Prisons Act 1979 [title 10 item 32].
(3) For the purposes of section 55(2)(d) of the
Constitution [title 2 item 1] a
person is disqualified for registration as an elector if, on the qualifying
date, he is disqualified for voting at a parliamentary
election under section
71.
Entitlement to
vote
4 (1) Subject
to subsection (2), a person is entitled to vote at a parliamentary election in
a constituency if, and only if, on the polling
day, he is registered as an
elector in the parliamentary register of that constituency.
(2) Notwithstanding that a person may be
registered in the parliamentary register of a constituency, he is not entitled
to vote at a
parliamentary election in that constituency if, on the polling day
—
(a) he has ceased to be a Commonwealth citizen; or
(b) he has ceased to be ordinarily resident in
Bermuda; or
(c) he is registered in the parliamentary register
of another constituency; or
(d) he is disqualified from voting at a
parliamentary election under section 71; or
(e) he is in prison or detained in a senior
training school or having been sentenced to a term of imprisonment, pre ventive
detention
or corrective training the adjudged term of his sentence has not yet
expired, whether or not he is then at large on licence, unless
he has been
granted a free pardon or has been granted remission under section 10 of the
Prisons Act 1979 [title 10 item 32];
or
(f) he is a person suffering from mental disorder
within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1968 [title 11 item 36] or is otherwise adjudged to be of unsound mind
under any statutory provision.
Qualification
for election
5 (1) A
person may be elected as a member of the House of As sembly for a constituency
if—
(a) he is qualified and not disqualified under
sections 29 and 30 of the Constitution [title
2 item 1]; and
(b) his nomination as a candidate has been duly
accepted by the Returning Officer for that constituency pursuant to section 32.
(2) For the purposes of section 30(1)(e) of the
Constitution [title 2 item 1] a
person is disqualified for membership of the House of Assem bly if he is
disqualified from being elected as such a member under
sec tion 71 of this Act.
PART III
PARLIAMENTARY
REGISTERS
Parliamentary
Registrar and registration officers
6 (1) The
Governor shall appoint a Parliamentary Registrar (hereinafter referred to as
"the Registrar") for the purposes of
this Act, and may appoint such number
of registration officers as are from time to time required to enable the
Registrar to carry
out his functions under this Part.
(2) The Registrar shall be a public officer and
every registration officer shall be deemed to be such an officer in carrying
out his
functions under this Act.
(3) Any duty of a registration officer under
this Act may be per formed by the Registrar.
(4) The Registrar may authorize any registration
officer to exer-
cise
such powers and perform such duties on his behalf as he may in any case direct.
(5) Subject
to this Act, the Registrar shall exercise general su pervision and control over
the conduct of Returning Officers in and
about the conduct of elections.
(6) Expenses
incurred by the Registrar pursuant to this section shall be defrayed from
moneys provided by the Legislature.
Parliamentary
registers
7 (1) The
Registrar shall prepare annually in relation to each constituency a
parliamentary register of the persons entitled to be regis
tered therein.
(2) The
Registrar shall also prepare a composite register of the persons registered in
the several parliamentary registers and such
com posite register shall be known
as the general register.
(3) The
particulars to be entered in the appropriate parliamen tary register and the general
register shall, in relation to each person
registered, include the date of
registration, the full names of such per son, the address at which he is
ordinarily resident including
its postal zone number, and in the case of a
transfer of registration a reference to the parliamentary register in which he
was
formerly registered.
(4) The
misdescription of any person or his address in any par liamentary register or
the general register shall not invalidate the
regis tration of such person if
the description is such as to be commonly known.
Publication of
parliamentary registers
8 (1) Parliamentary
registers shall be published not later than the 15th of June in each year, and
registers published in any year shall
be used for elections at which the date fixed for the poll falls within the
period of twelve months beginning with the
16th of June in that year.
(2) Subject
to this section the 15th of January in any year shall be the qualifying date
for the purposes of section 55(3) of the Constitu
tion [title 2 item 1] and of this Act for a parliamentary election at
which the date fixed for the poll falls within the period of twelve months
begin
ning with the 16th day of June of that year.
(3) If
any part of a register is not published within the time re quired by this
section, then until the day following that on which
it is published the
corresponding part of the previous register shall continue in use; and where
any part of the register used
at an election is a part continued in force by
this subsection, this Act shall have effect in rela tion to the election and
the
area to which that part relates as if the qual ifying date by reference to
which that part was prepared were the quali fying date
for the election.
(4) Notwithstanding
subsection (2) the qualifying date in re spect of the age of any person shall
be polling day.
(5) A
person otherwise qualified shall accordingly be entitled to be registered in
the appropriate parliamentary and general registers
if he will attain voting
age before the 16th June in the year following the year such registers are
prepared.
(6) The
entry of any person referred to in subsections (4) and (5) in any parliamentary
or general register shall show the date on which
he will attain voting age, and
until that date he shall not be treated as an elector for any purposes other
than the purposes of
an election at which the day fixed for the poll is that or
a later date.
(7) Voting
age shall mean for the purposes of this section the age of eighteen years.
[Section 8
amended by 1989:57 effective 1 January 1990]
Preparation of
parliamentary registers
9 With a view to the preparation of the
register, the Registrar shall—
(a) have a house to house or other sufficient
inquiry made as to the person entitled to be registered; and
(b) have prepared and published draft parliamentary
regis ters (hereinafter referred to as draft registers) showing the persons
appearing
to him to be entitled to be regis tered together with their
qualifying addresses.
Right to be
registered
10 Subject to not being disqualified for
registration all persons qualified for registration in the parliamentary
register of a constituency
shall be entitled to be registered in the register
to be used at parliamen tary elections.
Voters' lists
11 (1) In addition to the parliamentary registers
the Registrar shall prepare and publish in relation to each constituency a
voters' list
which shall be a true and comprehensive list of the names and
addresses in cluding the postal zone number of the persons registered
in the
parlia mentary register of such constituency.
(2) Publication
of the voters' list of each constituency shall be effected by their deposit on
the date of the publication of the parliamen
tary registers in the office of
the Registrar and at the police stations, post offices and such other places as
the registrar may
select within the con stituency.
(3) The
omission or inclusion of any name on the voters' list or any omission therein
shall not, of itself, affect the validity of any
parlia mentary register, or
the general register or in any way confer any right or diminish any right in
relation to entitlement
to registration, voting or candidature under this Act.
(4) In
the preparation of the voters' list the Registrar may omit all styles, titles
and decorations.
(5) Voters'
lists shall be available for sale at the office of the Registrar and at such
other places as he shall appoint for a fee
of 30 per page or $250 for a bound
volume.
[Section 11
amended by 1994:19 effective 1 July 1994]
Householders
and others to give information to the Registrar
12 (1) The
Registrar may require any householder or person own ing or occupying any
premises to give information required for the pur poses
of preparing
parliamentary registers and voters' lists.
(2) Without
prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) the Registrar may require any
householder or person owning of occupying any
premises to complete and return
to him within fourteen days of its receipt by him such form as may be
prescribed.
(3) No
postage charge shall be levied on forms sent to the Reg istrar by virtue of
subsection (2).
(4) Any
person who without reasonable excuse fails to give any information required
under subsection (1) or to complete and return a
form in accordance with
subsection (2) commits an offence:
Punishment on
summary conviction: a fine of $200.
Registrar may
require attendance of persons
13 (1) The
Registrar before entering the name of any person in a draft register or a
parliamentary register may, if he thinks it necessary
require such person to appear
before him and produce his birth certifi cate and make and sign a declaration
in the prescribed form
showing the qualifications for his name to be included
in a parliamentary register.
(2) The
Registrar may omit from a parliamentary register the name of any person who
fails within one month to appear before him or to
produce his birth certificate
or to make and sign a declaration when so required under subsection (1).
Scrutineers
14 (1) For
the purpose of assisting the Registrar in preparing draft registers and the
parliamentary registers there shall be appointed
annu ally for each
constituency two scrutineers, who shall be persons regis tered as electors in
that constituency and who shall
not be members of either House of the
Legislature or public officers.
(2) Every
scrutineer appointed under this section shall be so appointed by the Governor
acting upon the recommendation of the Pre mier
in respect of one such
scrutineer for each constituency and upon the recommendation of the Opposition
Leader in respect of the
other such scrutineer.
(3) It
shall be the duty of the two scrutineers to examine the draft registers of the
constituency for which they are appointed, to
con sult together in order to
advise the Registrar as to any alteration which ought in their opinion to be
made in order to ensure
its accuracy and in particular in order to remove
therefrom the names of any persons who have died, who have ceased to be
ordinarily
resident in Bermuda, who are disqualified by reason of serving a
term of imprisonment or who have ceased to be ordinarily resident
in the
constituency for which they are registered as electors.
(4) If
the scrutineers are unable to agree on the advice they shall give to the
Registrar then they shall each advise him separately.
(5) If
for any reason only one scrutineer advises him, then the Registrar shall
consider that advice.
(6) On
receipt of advice from the scrutineers the Registrar may in his discretion
amend a draft register.
(7) If
for any reason the Registrar receives no advice from scru tineers then he shall
act without such advice.
Publication of
draft registers
15 (1) The
Registrar shall publish the draft registers by—
(a) making copies thereof available for inspection
at his of fice;
(b) as soon as practicable making copies of the
draft regis ters available at police stations, post offices and such other
places as
the Registrar may select in each con stituency; and
(c) publishing a notice combined with the notice
relating to claims and objections referred to in section 16 drawing attention
to the
publication of the draft registers.
(2) The draft registers shall be published on or
before the 1st April in every year.
Notice of claim
or objection
16 (1) The
Registrar shall at the time of publishing the draft reg isters publish a notice
specifying the manner in which claims and objec
tions in respect of such
registers may be made.
(2) The notice referred to in section 15 and in
subsection (1) of this section shall be published in the manner the Registrar
thinks
best calculated to bring it to the notice of the electors.
Objections to
registration
17 (1) Subject
to this section any person may deliver to the Regis trar an objection to the
registration of any other person in a draft
register and if the Registrar,
after consultation whenever possible with the two scrutineers appointed for the
constituency concerned,
is satisfied that the grounds of such objection are
established, then he shall remove the name of that person from the draft
register
or shall alter or cancel the particulars to which the objection
relates.
(2) An objection under subsection (1) shall be
disregarded if it is delivered to the Registrar after the 1st May.
(3) The Registrar shall not consider an
objection made under this section unless the person objecting submits to him in
writing a statement
of the grounds of the objection and deposits with him the
sum of five dollars.
(4) The Registrar shall not determine an
objection made under this section unless and until he has given the person
affected by the
ob jection at least fourteen days notice thereof and an
opportunity to reply thereto and, if such person so desires, an opportunity
to
be heard with respect thereto.
(5) Where the Registrar finds that the grounds
of an objection are established, he shall refund the sum of five dollars to the
person
ob jecting, but where he finds that such grounds are not established he
shall pay that sum to the person affected by the objection.
Objections to
omissions
18 (1) Subject
to this section, a person may deliver to the Regis trar an objection that his
name has been irregularly omitted from a draft
register or that the particulars
relating to his name in such register are incomplete or inaccurate or both and
if the Registrar,
after (if possible) consultation with the two scrutineers
appointed for the constituency concerned, is satisfied that the grounds
of such
objection are estab lished, he shall rectify the draft register.
(2) An objection under subsection (1) shall be
disregarded if delivered to the Registrar after the 1st May.
(3) The Registrar shall not consider any
objection made under this section unless the person objecting submits to him in
writing a statement
of the grounds of the objection and deposits with him the
sum of five dollars.
(4) When the Registrar finds that the grounds of
an objection are established he shall refund the sum of five dollars to the
person
ob jecting but when he finds that the grounds of objection are not estab lished
he shall retain that sum and pay it into the Consolidated
Fund.
Hearing of objections
19 (1) Where
any objection is made in accordance with section 17 or 18, this section shall
apply to the consideration and determination
of every such objection by the
Registrar.
(2) The objector and any other person appearing
to the Regis trar to be interested may appear and be heard personally on the
matter.
(3) The Registrar shall permit the objector or
other person in terested, as the case may be, to give or adduce oral or
documentary evi
dence in support of or in opposition to the objection.
(4) The Registrar may require that the evidence
tendered by any person be given upon oath or affirmation as commonly
administered in
a court and may administer an oath or affirmation for that
purpose, and may take affidavits.
(5) The Registrar may require any person
appearing before him to furnish to him such additional information as he
considers necessary
for a proper determination of the application and for the
prevention of fraudulent registrations and may of his own motion make
further
in quiries for those purposes.
(6) Where any question arises as to the
possession or otherwise of Bermudian status by any person, the Registrar may
have recourse to
the Minister responsible for Immigration and a statement under
the hand of that Minister as to the status of any such person shall,
for the
purposes of the proceedings and without prejudice to any
other
evidence before him, be sufficient evidence to the facts stated therein.
(7) If requested by an objector, the Registrar
shall inform him of his decision upon his objection and shall if requested by
the objector
give his reasons for making the decision.
Corrections to
the draft registers
20 The Registrar shall make alterations to
the draft registers —
(a) to carry out a decision with respect to any
claim or ob jection;
(b) to correct any clerical error;
(c) to correct any misnomer or inaccurate
description; or
(d) to delete the name of any person who the
Registrar is satisfied is dead.
Other
corrections to the draft registers
21 (1) Where
it appears to the Registrar that it is necessary to make any alteration to the
draft register, other than an alteration made
as a result of a claim or
objection to the draft register, in order to ensure that no person is
incorrectly registered, or registered
when not entitled he shall send to the
person affected by the alteration a notice stating the proposed alteration and
shall give
him an opportunity within fourteen days from the date of such notice
of objecting to the alteration and, if necessary, of appearing
and being heard
in accordance with section 19.
(2) After the said fourteen days the Registrar
shall make such alteration, if any, as seems to him to be necessary.
Publication of
parliamentary registers
22 (1) So
soon as may be after claims and objections to the draft registers have been
decided, the Registrar shall publish the parliamen
tary registers by —
(a) making copies available for inspection at his
office;
(b) making further copies available at police
stations, post offices and such other places as he may select in each
constituency; and
(c) publishing a notice drawing attention to the
publication of the parliamentary registers.
(2) The parliamentary registers shall be kept
available for in spection until the coming into force of the next registers.
Corrections to
the parliamentary registers
23 (1) Sections
20 and 21 (except as respects alterations arising out of claims and objections)
shall have effect for the making of alter
ations to the parliamentary registers
as those sections have effect for the making of alterations to the draft
registers.
(2) Without prejudice to subsection (1), where a
parliamentary register as published does not carry out the intention of the
Registrar
be cause there has not been included therein the name of any person
shown in the draft parliamentary register as a person entitled
to be reg istered
then (subject to the decision on any appeal from a decision on a claim or
objection) the Registrar on becoming
aware of the fact shall make the necessary
correction in the register.
(3) No alteration shall be made in a
parliamentary register as published otherwise than under this section or the
provisions of section
24 relating to appeals.
(4) An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court
from any decision under this section of the Registrar to make or not to make an
alteration
in a parliamentary register as published and section 24(3), (4),
(5), (6), (7) and (8) shall apply to any such appeal.
(5) Where the Registrar makes an alteration in a
parliamentary register pursuant to subsection (2), he shall—
(a) send to the person affected by the alteration
and, if he gives effect to a decision on an objection, to the objector a notice
stating
the alteration;
(b) make a copy of the alteration available for
inspection at his office;
(c) make copies of the alteration available for
inspection at police stations, post offices and such other places at which
copies of
the register to which the alteration re lates have been made
available for inspection;
(d) send a copy of the alteration to every
political party.
(6) Copies of alterations made available for
inspection under this section shall be kept available for the same length of
time as the
parliamentary register is kept published.
Appeals to the
Supreme Court
24 (1) Where
any person is aggrieved because his name does not appear in a particular
parliamentary register or because some person's name
does appear in such a
register then subject to this section he may within thirty days of the
publication of the register appeal
to the Supreme Court.
(2) No appeal under this section shall lie—
(a) by any person on the grounds that some other
person's name appears on the parliamentary register of a partic ular
constituency if
that person's name appeared on the draft register of that
constituency and he made no ob jection under section 17; or
(b) by any person whose name has been omitted from
the parliamentary register of a particular constituency if his name did not
appear
in the draft register of that con stituency and he made no objection
under section 18.
(3) An appeal under this section shall be heard
in chambers at a time appointed by the Court for that purpose of which due
notice shall
be given to the appellant, the Registrar and any other person
appearing to be concerned.
(4) Upon the determination of an appeal the
Court shall give such directions in the matter as appear to it to be just and
necessary
for the disposal of the issue arising thereupon and the Registrar
shall give effect to any such directions.
(5) The costs of the appeal shall be within the
discretion of the Court.
(6) The decision of the Court on any appeal
under this section shall be final and conclusive.
(7) No person registered in a parliamentary
register shall be precluded from voting at any parliamentary election by reason
only that
an appeal is pending under this section.
(8) The Chief Justice may make rules governing
the practice and procedure in relation to appeals under this section.
(9) Such rules shall not be subject to section 6
of the Statutory Instruments Act 1977 [title
1 item 3].
Voter's identification
card
25 (1) Any
person whose name is on a parliamentary register may apply to the Registrar for
a voter's identification card and if such a
per son satisfies the Registrar
that he is so registered he shall issue him with such a card which shall be
valid for ten years.
(2) The Registrar may issue a voter's
identification card to re place a valid card already issued to a person
registered in a current
par liamentary register, if he is satisfied that the
card has been lost or stolen and is unlikely to be found or recovered, or that
it has been completely destroyed, mutilated or is in such a condition as to
require replacement or that the name of the person
to whom the card relates has
changed.
(3) Every replacement voter's identification
card issued under subsection (2) shall have written on it "replacement
card"
and the Regis trar shall place an "R" against the
elector's name in the parliamentary register and on the voter's list.
(4) Every person found in possession of a
voter's identification card other than his own without lawful excuse commits an
offence:
Punishment on
summary conviction: a fine of $500.
(5) A voter's identification card which shall be
in such form as the Governor shall prescribe, shall show the date of birth of
the elector
to whom it is issued and shall have attached to it a photograph of
the elec tor taken without charge under arrangements made by
the Registrar.
(6) An elector shall sign any voter's
identification card issued to him in the space provided for his signature.
Preparation of
new parliamentary registers after report of a Bound aries Commission
26 (1) In
addition to the parliamentary registers prepared by virtue of section 7
whenever the Governor has made an order under section
54(6) of the Constitution
[title 2 item 1] giving effect to the
report of a Constituency Boundaries Commission, either with or without amend ment,
the Registrar shall prepare
new parliamentary registers based on the
constituencies determined in the Governor's order (hereinafter re ferred to as
the "new
registers" and the "new constituencies").
(2) The Registrar shall prepare new registers on
each occasion he prepares parliamentary registers until by virtue of subsection
(6)
the new registers become the parliamentary registers.
(3) In the preparation of the new registers the
Registrar shall in clude the names of all persons qualified for registration in
the
new con stituencies as shown in the current general register.
(4) Every new register shall be provisional only
until the order which occasioned its preparation has come into force; but it
shall
be the duty of the Registrar, so soon as such register has been prepared,
to publish it as a draft register in accordance with section
15.
(5) Sections 16 to 25 shall apply to such draft
registers:
Provided that —
(a) no objection to the registration of any person
or to the omission to register any person in the new registers shall be allowed
in
respect of any matter that was or could have been the subject of an
objection to a current par liamentary register;
(b) there shall be substituted in sections 17(2)
and 18(2) for the expression "1st May" the expression
"twenty-one days
from the date of the publication of the draft regis ter".
(6) Upon the dissolution of the Legislature next
ensuing after the Governor has made an order under section 54(6) of the
Constitution
[title 2 item 1] the new
registers shall become the parliamentary registers and shall be used at the
forthcoming general election and at all other
parliamentary elections to be
held at which the date fixed for the poll is before the 16th June next ensuing.
PART IV
CALLING ELECTIONS
Issue of writs
of election
27 (1) Every
parliamentary election in a constituency shall com mence with the issue by the
Governor of a writ of election under the Public
Seal of Bermuda.
(2) A writ of election shall be addressed to one
or more Justices of the Peace, who subject to section 29 shall be charged with
the
duty of holding the parliamentary election in accordance with the terms of
the writ and Parts V, VI, VII and VIII:
Provided that two or
more concurrent writs of election shall not be addressed to the same Justice of
the Peace.
(3) Subject to this section, every writ of
election shall appoint the nomination day, the polling day and the election
room for the
par liamentary election.
(4) The nomination day appointed for a
parliamentary election shall not be an excepted day and shall , subject to
section 27A, be a
day at least fourteen days before the polling day.
(5) The polling day appointed for a
parliamentary election shall not be an excepted day and shall, subject to
section 27A,—
(a) in the case of a general election be the day
appointed for the holding of the general election by proclamation pur suant to
section
51(1) of the Constitution [title
2 item 1];
(b) in the case of a bye-election be a day not
earlier than twenty-eight days after the issue of the writ nor later than two
months
after the occurrence of the vacancy which occasioned the issue of the
writ.
(6) The place appointed for a parliamentary
election shall be some convenient building or part of a building within, or, in
the opinion
of the Registrar, conveniently near the boundary of, the
constituency concerned, not being a building licensed for the sale of
intoxicating liquor.
(7) The several writs of election issued in the
case of a general election shall bear the same date, shall be issued on the
same day
and shall appoint the same nomination day and the same polling day
respec tively for each constituency.
[Section 27
amended by 1997 : 22 effective 11 July 1997]
Power to
postpone elections
27A (1) Where
at any time between the issue of a writ of election and the polling day
appointed by that writ the Governor is satisfied that
it is expedient so to do
by reason of—
(a) Bermuda having become, or being likely to
become, engaged in any war; or
(b) a state of emergency having been proclaimed
under section 14(3) of the Constitution; or
(c) the occurrence of an earthquake, hurricane,
flood or fire, or the outbreak of a pestilence or an infectious disease or
other calamity
whether similar to the foregoing or not; or
(d) the likelihood that the voters list will not
be available before the polling day; or
(e) the
occurrence of rioting, open violence or other civil disturbance which has
caused, or is likely to cause, such interruption or
abandonment of the
electoral
process
as to prejudice the holding of a fair election,
he may by
proclamation published in the Gazette cancel the polling day appointed by the
writ and appoint another day, not being
more than thirty days after that day
(but subject in any event to the limits set forth in section 51(1) and (2) of
the Constitution),
to be the polling day instead.
(2) A proclamation under this section made by
virtue of paragraph (c), (d) or (e) of subsection (1) may be expressed to apply
to all
the constituencies of Bermuda, or to one or more of those constituencies
specified in the proclamation; and, where such a proclamation
is expressed to
apply to a particular constituency or to particular constituencies, the
proclamation shall not affect any appointment
of a polling day, or the
operation of this Act as respects any such appointment, in relation to any
other constituency.
(3) The writ of election relating to a
constituency to which a proclamation made under this section applies shall be
deemed to have
been amended by substituting the polling day appointed by the
proclamation for the polling day appointed by that writ.
(4) Where a proclamation under this section is
made before the day appointed by the writ of election in question as the
nomination day,
the nomination day shall be deemed postponed until the
fourteenth day next preceding the polling day appointed by the proclamation.
(5) Where a proclamation under this section is
made after the day appointed by the writ of election in question as the
nomination day,
the postponement by the proclamation of the polling day shall
not affect any nomination that was made on nomination day, and no
further
nomination may be made.
(6) Where the polling day or the nomination day
appointed by a writ of election ("the original day") is postponed by
virtue
of this section to another day ("the substitute day"), any
reference in this Act or in any Rules made under this Act to
the original day
shall, if the context so requires, be construed as a reference to the
substitute day and not the original day.
(7) Where the polling day appointed by a writ of
election is postponed by a proclamation by virtue of this section, the Governor
may
by that proclamation or by a later proclamation published in the Gazette
if, in his opinion, the election room appointed by the
writ ("the original
election room") will not be available for the purposes of the election,
appoint another election
room (a "substitute election room") for
those purposes instead; and, where a substitute election room has been so
appointed,
any reference in this Act or in any Rules made under this Act to the
original election room shall, if the context so requires, be
construed as a
reference to the substitute election room and not the original election room.
[Section 27A
inserted by 1997 : 22 effective 11 July 1997]
Endorsement
over of writ in certain circumstances
28 (1) If
any Justice of the Peace to whom a writ of election has been addressed intends
to be a candidate at the parliamentary election
to which the writ or any other
concurrent writ relates, or is or becomes prevented by illness or infirmity or
by reason of intended
absence from Bermuda or other good cause from executing
the writ, he shall, unless the writ is addressed also to some other Justice
of
the Peace who is ca pable of executing the same, forthwith report the
circumstances to the Registrar in writing and return the
writ to the Registrar.
(2) Whenever a writ is returned to the Registrar
in the circum stances specified in subsection (1), or in the event of the death
of
a Justice of the Peace to whom a writ of election has been addressed, the
Reg istrar may endorse the writ over to another Justice
of the Peace and de liver
it to him and thereupon section 27(2) shall apply as if the writ had been
initially addressed to that
other Justice of the Peace.
Duties of
Returning Officers
29 (1) In
this and every succeeding part of this Act "Returning Of-
ficer" means
the Justice or Justices of the Peace charged with the duty of executing a writ
of election.
(2) Where two or more Justices of the Peace are
charged with the duty of executing a writ of election, then so far as is
reasonably
practicable and subject to this Act they shall act jointly in the
discharge of that duty, but the exercise of the powers conferred
upon Returning
Officers by this Act by any one or more of the Justices so charged shall be as
valid and effectual as the exercise
of those powers by all of them and no
proceedings relating to a parliamentary election shall be liable to be impugned
on the ground
that anything required or authorized to be done by, to or before
the Returning Officer was done by, to or before one or more but
not all of the
Justices.
(3) The Returning Officer after consultation
with the Registrar may appoint one or more persons approved by the Registrar as
presiding
officers to assist him in the discharge of his duties and in
particular may appoint any one of them to preside at the election room
during
any tem porary absence of the Returning Officer therefrom and any presiding
offi cer so appointed shall on behalf of the
Returning Officer exercise such
powers and perform such duties as he may be authorized to exercise and perform
by the Returning
Officer.
(4) The Registrar may, subject to this Act, give
Returning Offi cers generally or any particular Returning Officer such
directions as
he may think necessary and appropriate for ensuring the efficient
and or derly conduct of any parliamentary election and it shall
be the duty of
each Returning Officer to conform to any directions so given.
Notice of
election
30 (1) On
the issue of every writ of election, the Deputy Governor shall notify the
Registrar and the Registrar shall forthwith give notice
of the issue of the
writ by publication in two successive issues of the Gazette and in at least one
other newspaper circulating
in Bermuda.
(2) Every such notice shall specify the
nomination day and the polling day and the location of the election room
appointed for the par
liamentary election.
Delivery of
parliamentary registers etc. to Returning Officer
31 (1) Before
eleven o'clock in the forenoon of nomination day in any parliamentary election
the Registrar shall deliver to the Returning
Officer the parliamentary register
of the appropriate constituency and shall also furnish him with a copy of the
voters' list for
that constituency certified under his hand to be correct.
(2) The Returning Officer shall retain the
parliamentary register in his custody until the conclusion of the parliamentary
election
and shall then deliver it back to the Registrar.
PART V
NOMINATION
PROCEDURE
Nomination of
candidates
32 (1) The
Returning Officer shall attend at eleven o'clock in the forenoon on the
nomination day appointed by the writ of election at
the election room appointed
for the parliamentary election and shall there until one o'clock in the
afternoon, but no later, accept
nominations of candidates in accordance with
subsection (2).
(2) The Returning Officer shall accept the
nomination of a per son as a candidate if, and shall not accept such nomination
unless —
(a) the nomination of that person is written on a
separate paper (hereinafter referred to as a nomination paper) in the
prescribed form
or is, in the opinion of the Returning Officer, substantially
in that form;
(b) the nomination paper is signed in duplicate by
two par liamentary electors whose names are included in the parliamentary
register
for the constituency concerned, one as proposer and one as seconder,
neither of whom has proposed or seconded the nomination of
another candidate at
that parliamentary election;
(c) the intended candidate is described in the
nomination paper by his full name;
(d) the nomination paper is delivered in duplicate
to the Returning Officer either by the intended candidate or by his proposer or
seconder
at the place and between the hours specified in subsection (1);
(e) in the case of concurrent parliamentary
elections in more than one constituency, the intended candidate is nominated as
a candidate
in no other constituency and in the case of a bye-election is not
already a member of the House of Assembly or a member of the Senate;
(f) the intended candidate or someone on his
behalf has deposited in the Consolidated Fund the sum of two
hun dred and fifty dollars and in proof thereof delivers or causes to be
delivered to the Returning Officer an official receipt
therefor signed by the
Accountant General or an authorized officer of his Department, showing that
such sum has been deposited
for the purposes of that per son's candidature at
that parliamentary election; and
(g) the nomination paper is signed by the intended
candi date to denote his acceptance of candidature in that constituency and no
other.
(3) Where a candidate is endorsed by a political
party and wishes to have the name of that party shown in the election documents
relating
to him, there shall be delivered to the Returning Officer along with
his nomination paper a letter from or on behalf of the chairman
of the party
stating that the candidate is endorsed by the party, and a can didate in
respect of whom the provisions of this subsection
are satisfied is in this Act
referred to as a "party candidate".
(4) A candidate in respect of whom the
provisions of subsection (3) are not satisfied (in this Act referred to as an
"independent
candi date") shall be described in the election
documents relating to him by the word "independent".
(5) It shall not be necessary for a nomination
paper to be sub scribed in the presence of the Returning Officer.
(6) At the time an intended candidate's nomination
paper is lodged with the Returning Officer or at some time before the polling
day,
the Returning Officer shall be informed in writing of the names of the
persons (hereinafter referred to as "election agents"
or
"agents") who will represent him, or where he is a party candidate,
the party endorsing him, in the election room
in accordance with paragraph (2)
of rule 4 of the Rules contained in the Schedule.
(7) The Registrar shall make arrangements to
supply nomina tion papers in the prescribed form free of charge to
parliamentary elec tors
at his office during the period commencing with the
first day on which a notice of a parliamentary election is published pursuant
to sec tion 30 and ending with the nomination day and shall furnish the Re turning
Officers with stocks of such forms for use at
the election rooms during the
nomination period; but any failure to make such arrange ments shall not affect
the validity of any
parliamentary election and the use of the prescribed forms
shall not be obligatory, so however that each nomination paper actually
used is
substantially in the form prescribed.
Uncontested
elections
33 Where at the close of the period for
the acceptance of nomination for candidates at any parliamentary election in a
constituency
the num ber of persons duly nominated as candidates does not
exceed the num ber of vacancies to be filled at that election, then
the
Returning Officer shall forthwith declare such duly nominated person or persons
to be elected and shall return their name or
names, as the case may be, into
the office of the Deputy Governor with the writ of election duly completed and
signed by him.
Bye-election to
fill unfilled vacancies
34 (1) Where
the number, if any, of persons returned uncontested as members in accordance
with section 32 is less than the number of vacancies
to be filled at the
parliamentary election in the constituency concerned, then a bye-election shall
ensue within the next succeeding
period of two months to fill any vacancy not
duly filled at such parlia mentary election.
(2) The Returning Officer shall forthwith report
to the Deputy Governor and the Registrar the circumstances giving rise to a
bye-elec
tion under subsection (1).
PART VI
CONTESTED
ELECTIONS
Special
interpretation of Parts VI and VII
35 (1) Subject
to subsection (2), any reference in this Part or Part VII to a parliamentary
elector or to the parliamentary register shall
be construed as the case may be
as a reference to a parliamentary elector or to the parliamentary register for
the constituency
in respect of which the parliamentary election is being held.
(2) Where the writ of election is addressed to
two or more Justices of the Peace, each of those Justices may if so directed by
the Regis
trar assume particular responsibility for the taking of the poll in
relation to a particular part of the parliamentary register
including the
supervi sion and control of a separate ballot box in relation to that part and
in that event all references in this
Part and in the Rules contained in the
Schedule to the Returning Officer, a parliamentary elector, a ballot box, the
parliamentary
register or ballot paper or a polling place within the election
room shall be construed as references to the particular Justice
of the Peace
and to those matters within his responsibility for the taking of the poll in
relation to that particular part
only of the parliamentary reg ister, unless the context otherwise requires.
Taking a poll
in contested election
36 (1) Subject
to section 38, where at the close of the period for the acceptance of
nominations of candidates at a parliamentary election
in a constituency, the
number of persons duly nominated as candidates exceeds the number of vacancies
to be filled at that election,
then a poll shall be taken at the election room
on the polling day therefor.
(2) In the taking of a poll at a parliamentary
election the voting shall be by ballot and —
(a) every parliamentary elector desiring to vote at
the elec tion shall have facilities for voting in secrecy, freely and without
interference;
and
(b) every parliamentary elector who votes at the
election shall do so in secrecy, freely and without interference.
(3) Every parliamentary elector whose name
appears in the parliamentary register for a constituency in respect of which a
contested
parliamentary election is held shall, if he is in employment, be
entitled to receive from his employer without penalty sufficient
time off work
on the polling day to enable him to travel to the election room and there
record his vote.
Withdrawal of
candidate
37 (1) No
person whose nomination as a candidate for a parlia mentary election has been
duly accepted by the Returning Officer may withdraw
from the election except by
means of a written notice signed by him and delivered to the Returning Officer
not less than two clear
days, excluding any excepted days, before the polling
day for such election, unless the effect of his withdrawal is to render the
taking of a poll in such election unnecessary in which event such person may so
withdraw by delivering such notice to the Returning
Officer at any time before
the polling day.
(2) On receipt of a notice of withdrawal in
accordance with subsection (1) the Returning Officer shall forthwith publish
the notice
of withdrawal in the constituency concerned and shall, subject to
subsec tion (3), make arrangements for the preparation of new
ballot papers or,
if the circumstances do not so allow, for the amendment of existing ballot
papers, so that the poll may take
place on the polling day.
(3) Where a withdrawal from election pursuant to
subsection (1) renders the taking of a poll in the parliamentary election
unneces sary,
the Returning Officer shall as soon as may be on the polling day
declare the candidate or candidates for election in the constituency
who have
not withdrawn to be elected and shall return their name or names as the case
may be into the office of the Deputy Governor
with the writ of election duly
completed and signed by him.
Death of
candidate
38 (1) Where
under section 36 a poll is required to be taken in a parliamentary election in
a constituency and before the close of the
poll in that election a person duly
nominated as a candidate in that election dies, then the parliamentary election
in that constituency
shall be void and shall be so declared by the Returning
Officer and a bye-election shall ensue within the next succeeding period
of two
months to fill the vacancy or vacancies existing at that time of the issue of
the relevant writ of elec tion.
(2) The Returning Officer shall forthwith report
to the Deputy Governor and the Registrar the circumstances giving rise to a
bye-elec
tion under subsection (1).
Duration of
poll
39 (1) Subject
to sections 40 to 42, the poll in a parliamentary election shall be taken on
the polling day between the hours of ten o'clock
in the forenoon and seven
o'clock in the afternoon.
(2) If at the hour of closing of the poll there
are any electors in the election room, or in line at the door, who are
qualified to
vote and have not been able to do so since their arrival at the
election room, the poll shall be kept open a sufficient time to
enable them to
vote before the outer door of the election room is closed, but no person who is
not actu ally present at the election
room at the hour of closing shall be
allowed to vote, even if the poll is still open when he arrives.
Advanced polls
for sick, infirm and absent voters
40 (1) Where
any parliamentary elector who is duly registered in the parliamentary register
for a constituency in which a parliamentary
election is pending is or is likely
to be on the polling day an inmate of any institution registered under
subsection (4) and to
be prevented by illness, infirmity or disability from
travelling to the election room, it shall be lawful for such parliamentary
elector to record his vote at an ad vanced poll to be held for that purpose at
such institution on such date prior to the polling
day as shall be appointed by
the Registrar.
(2) Where any parliamentary elector who is duly
registered in
the parliamentary register for a constituency in which a parliamentary election
is pending expects to be absent from Bermuda on
the polling day, he may apply
to the Registrar for a certificate of intended absence, and the Registrar, if
satisfied that the
application is made in good faith, shall thereupon issue him
with a certificate under his hand for the pur pose of enabling him
to vote at
an advanced poll, stating the name of such parliamentary elector and the fact
that he intends to be absent from Bermuda
on the polling day.
(3) An advanced poll for parliamentary electors
intending to be absent from Bermuda shall be held at such place, and on such
date not
earlier than seven days prior to the polling day, as the Registrar may
by notice published in the Gazette appoint for the purpose,
and it shall be lawful
for every such parliamentary elector on production of a certificate issued
under subsection (2) to record
his vote at such advanced poll.
(4) Any hospital, home for the aged or other
institution for the treatment of any chronic illness or disability with
permanent accommo
dation for five or more patients may apply to the Registrar
for registration for the purposes of subsection (1) and the Registrar
may, if
he is satisfied that it is reasonable to hold an advanced poll in such place,
so register it.
(5) The Registrar shall invite the attendance at
any advanced poll of one representative from each party which has candidates at
the
forthcoming election and such representative shall be deemed to be an
election agent for the purposes of section 50.
Advanced polls
for incapacitated voters
41 (1) Without
prejudice to section 52 where any parliamentary elector who is duly registered
in the parliamentary register for a con stituency
in which a parliamentary
election is pending is unable or likely to be unable by reason either of
illness, infirmity or disability
to travel to the election room, it shall be
lawful for such parliamentary elector to record his vote at an advanced poll to
be
held for that purpose at such place, and on such date not earlier than seven
days prior to the polling day, as the Registrar may
by notice in the Gazette
appoint for the pur pose.
(2) For the purpose of voting at any advanced
poll held as above, such parliamentary elector must apply to the Chief Medical
Offi cer
for a specially issued card certifying incapacity and the Chief
Medical Officer, if satisfied that the applicant is incapacitated,
shall
thereupon issue him with such a card under his hand for the purpose of enabling
him to vote at an advanced poll, stating
the name of such parliamentary elector
and the fact that he is incapacitated.
(3) Any parliamentary elector desiring to vote
at any advanced poll held as above shall upon the production of a specially
issued card
certifying incapacity under this section be allowed to vote in like
manner as he would have been entitled so to do on the day appointed
for the
taking of the poll.
Conduct of
advanced polls
42 (1) At
any advanced poll held in accordance with section 40 or 41 a separate ballot
box shall be provided for each constituency and
at the close of such advanced
poll the ballot papers in each box shall with out any examination be placed in
separate packets and
sealed by the of ficer conducting the poll, each packet
clearly designating the number of ballot papers it contains and the
constituency
to which it relates.
(2) Each sealed packet of ballot papers taken at
an advanced poll shall be immediately given by the officer conducting the poll
to the
Registrar to be kept intact in his office until delivery by him on the
polling day in the parliamentary election concerned to the
Returning Of ficer
for the constituency to which the packet relates.
(3) The Returning Officer shall open every
packet of ballot pa pers delivered to him pursuant to subsection (2)
immediately before the
commencement of the poll in the presence of any persons
who are law fully in the election room at that time and shall place the
ballot
papers without examining them in the ballot box at his poll before he locks it
up and places his seal upon it as provided
in the Schedule.
(4) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby
declared that the other provisions of this Act applying to parliamentary
electors, to voting
procedure and to parliamentary elections shall apply so far
as is conve nient to the taking of an advanced poll under this section,
section
40 and section 41 as they apply to the taking of a poll at an election room.
General duties
of Returning Officer as to taking of poll
43 (1) The
Returning Officer or a presiding officer appointed under section 29(3) shall be
present at the election room throughout the
taking of the poll and the counting
of votes and shall conduct and have charge of the proceedings and it shall be
his duty to keep
good order in and about the election room during the
proceedings.
(2) If any person during a parliamentary
election misconducts himself in or about the election room or fails to obey the
lawful order
of the Returning Officer, he may immediately by order of the
Returning Of ficer be removed from the election room or the vicinity
thereof by
any po lice officer or other person authorized by the Returning Officer to
remove him:
Provided that the
powers conferred by this subsection shall not be exercised so as to deprive any
parliamentary elector who is entitled
to vote at a parliamentary election of
his opportunity so to vote.
Adjournment of
poll in special circumstances
44 (1) Where
the proceedings at an election room on polling day in a parliamentary election
are interrupted or obstructed by general dis
order or by any other circumstances
beyond the control of the Returning Officer which, in his opinion, makes it
impracticable to
continue the taking of the poll, he may adjourn the
proceedings until the hour of ten o'clock in the forenoon of the following day
not being an excepted day and in that event he shall inform the Registrar
forthwith of his decision, shall seal up the ballot boxes
effectively and
ensure that they are so stored as to be free from interference and shall take
every practicable step to bring the
adjournment to the attention of the public
in the con stituency.
(2) Where the poll is adjourned pursuant to
subsection (1) the hours of polling on the day to which it is adjourned shall
be the same
as for the original day and the other provisions of this Act shall
apply mu tatis mutandis to the taking
of such adjourned poll.
Rules for
taking a poll
45 The Rules contained in the Schedule
shall have effect with re spect to the taking of the poll at a parliamentary
election:
Provided that no
parliamentary election shall be declare void by reason of a failure to comply
with any such rule if it appears
that the poll was conducted substantially in
accordance with section 36(2) and that the failure to comply did not affect the
result
of the election.
Ballot papers
46 (1) The
ballot of each voter at a parliamentary election shall consist of a paper,
hereinafter called a ballot paper, in the prescribed
form, showing the full
names of all the nominated candidates in alpha betical order impressed with the
official mark in accordance
with sub section (3).
(2) There shall be shown on the election
documents relating to a candidate, in addition to his name—
(a) where he is a party candidate, the name of his
political party;
(b) in any other case, the word
"Independent".
(3) The Returning Officer shall, at the time he
issues a ballot paper in accordance with section 48, impress the official mark
on the
back of the ballot paper.
(4) The official mark shall be of such design
and shall be im pressed by use of such instruments as may be approved by the
Regis trar.
(5) All Returning Officers and other persons
concerned with parliamentary elections shall comply with such directions as may
be given
by the Registrar regarding the safe custody of any instrument for
impressing the official mark.
Premises not to
be used as committee rooms
47 (1) No
premises which are situated above, below, adjacent to or within the same
curtilage as the election room shall be used by any
per son at any time on the
polling day in a parliamentary election for any of the purposes of a committee
room.
(2) Any person who uses or permits any other
person to use any premises in contravention of subsection (1) commits an
offence:
Punishment on
summary conviction: a fine of $500.
(3) In this section, "the purposes of a
committee room" means any of the purposes of a political party or other
association
of persons interested or concerned in promoting the election of any
candidate nomi nated in any parliamentary election.
PART VII
VOTING PROCEDURE
Issue of ballot
papers
48 (1) Subject
to sections 49 and 50 every person whose name is registered in the
parliamentary register for a constituency in which a
poll is taking place
shall, upon application therefor be given one ballot paper by the Returning
Officer and shall be allowed to
vote thereat.
(2) It is hereby declared that nothing in
subsection (1) shall —
(a) entitle any person to vote at a parliamentary
election who is not so entitled by section 4; or
(b) relieve any person from any punishment to which
he may be or become liable under this Act for so voting.
Identification
of intending voters
49 (1) A
person shall not be given a ballot paper and shall not be allowed to vote at a
parliamentary election unless—
(a) he produces to the Returning Officer one of the
following documents issued to him—
(i) a valid and signed voter's
identification card;
(ii) a current Bermudian driving licence;
(iii) a valid special person's card issued by
the Transport Control Board;
(iv) a valid passport issued by a
Commonwealth country; or
(v) any other document of identity of a
type pre scribed; and
(b) the Returning Officer is satisfied that the
documents produced relate to that person and that he is registered in the
parliamentary
register for the constituency and that he has not already voted
in the parliamentary elec tion.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in
subsection (1), in any case where a driving licence, a special person's card or
a passport
produced by a person as a means of identification is defective only
be cause it bears a date or date stamp showing that it expired
three months
before the date of production such document shall still be accepted as valid or
current as the case may be.
Challenge of
intending voters
50 (1) The
Returning Officer, at the request of the election agent of any candidate or on
his own initiative may require any person claiming
to vote at a parliamentary
election to read aloud or repeat after him and sign before him a declaration in
the prescribed form
and if the person so required does not comply with that
requirement, the Returning Officer shall not give him a ballot paper or
allow
him to vote, notwithstanding section 48(1):
Provided that the
reading and signing of such a declaration as aforesaid shall not entitle any
person to vote at a parliamentary
election unless he is entitled to vote by
section 4 or relieve him from any pun ishment to which he may be or become
liable for
so voting:
Provided further that
the requirements of this subsection shall be in addition to and not in
derogation of section 49.
(2) Every request made by the election agent of
any candidate for the purposes of subsection (1) shall be made in writing,
specifying
the grounds of the request, and the Returning Officer shall
disregard any re quest which is not so made:
Provided that nothing
in this subsection shall be taken to pre vent the submission by or on behalf of
a candidate to the Returning
Offi cer, before or during the taking of a poll,
of a list of the names of in tending voters whom it is proposed to challenge so
long, however, that an individual request in conformity with this subsection is
made to the Re turning Officer in respect of each
such person so challenged
before he is given a ballot paper.
Marking the
ballot paper
51 (1) Subject
to section 52, every person voting at a parliamen tary election shall secretly
mark his vote on the ballot paper given to
him and, without revealing his vote,
shall place the ballot paper in a closed box (hereinafter referred "the
ballot box")
in the presence of the Return ing Officer.
(2) A person voting at a parliamentary election
in a con stituency shall not be entitled to vote on a ballot paper for more of
the candidates
than there are vacancies to be filled by election at that par liamentary
election.
Incapacitated
voters
52 The Returning Officer, on the
application of any parliamentary elector who is blind, unable to read or so
physically incapacitated
as to be unable to vote in the manner prescribed by
section 51 to assist him in voting, shall require the elector making the
application
to take an oath in the prescribed form of his incapacity to vote
without assistance and shall thereafter assist the elector by marking
his
ballot paper in the manner directed by such elector and if he so requests in
the presence of one other presiding officer and
a friend, and shall place the
ballot paper in the ballot box.
Spoilt ballot
papers
53 A person voting at a parliamentary
election who has inadver tently dealt with his ballot paper in such a manner
that it cannot conve
niently be used as a ballot paper may, on delivering it to
the Returning Officer and on proving the fact of the inadvertence to
the
satisfaction of the Returning Officer, obtain another ballot paper in the place
of the one
so delivered up (hereinafter referred to as a "spoilt ballot paper")
and the spoilt ballot paper shall immediately be
cancelled but shall be
preserved by the Returning Officer.
Void ballot
papers
54 (1) Any
ballot paper —
(a) which does not have the official mark duly
impressed upon its back;
(b) on which votes are given for more candidates
than there are vacancies to be filled at the parliamentary election in the
constituency
concerned;
(c) on which anything is written or marked by which
the voter can be identified; or
(d) which is unmarked or which does not indicate
with suf ficient clarity the candidate or candidates, as the case may be, for
whom
the elector intended to vote,
shall be void and
shall not be counted.
(2) A ballot paper on which a vote is marked —
(a) elsewhere than in the proper place; or
(b) otherwise than by means of a cross; or
(c) by more than one mark in respect of each
candidate voted for,
shall not by
reason thereof be deemed void if an intention that the vote shall be for one or
more of the candidates, as the case
may be, clearly appears and the way the ballot
paper is marked does not of itself identify the voter and it is not shown that
he
can be identified thereby.
(3) It is hereby declared that nothing contained
in the Rules set out in the Schedule or in any directions prescribe by such
Rules shall
be construed as extending or adding to subsections (1) or (2).
Arrest of voter
for personation
55 (1) If
at any time a person applies for a ballot paper for the purpose of voting at a
parliamentary election in a constituency, or after
he has applied for a ballot
paper for that purpose but before he has left the election room, a candidate or
his election agent
declares to the Re turning Officer that he has reasonable
cause to believe that that person has committed an offence of personation
and
undertakes to substantiate the charge in a court of law, the Returning Officer
may order a police of ficer to arrest that person
and the order of the
Returning Officer shall be sufficient authority for the police officer to do
so.
(2) A person arrested in accordance with this
section shall not by reason only thereof be prevented from voting.
(3) A person arrested under subsection (1) shall
be dealt with as a person taken into custody by a police officer without a
warrant
charged with an offence triable summarily.
PART VIII
CLOSE OF POLL
PROCEDURE
Count of
ballots
56 (1) Immediately
after the close of the poll at a parliamentary election, the Returning Officer
shall seal the ballot box so as to prevent
the introduction of additional
ballot papers and shall take charge of such box and shall then, in the presence
of such of the candidates
as may choose to attend, and such other persons whom
the Returning Officer shall permit to be present not exceeding three persons
for each candi date, open the ballot box and ascertain the result of the poll
by counting the votes given to each candidate:
Provided that any
candidate who is not present at the count of votes may nominate one person as
his agent to be present thereat
in his place.
(2) Immediately after the counting of the votes
pursuant to subsection (1) has terminated, a candidate or his agent present at
the count
may demand a recount and thereupon, unless the Returning Offi cer
considers the demand to be unreasonable having regard to the result
of the
first count, he shall proceed to re-count the votes accordingly to ascertain
the result of the poll.
(3) In the event of a re-count of votes —
(a) every other candidate or his agent shall have
the right to demand a further re-count, and the Returning Officer may in his
own discretion
conduct further re-counts;
(b) the result of the poll shall be determined by
the final count of the votes.
(4) When the result of the poll has been
ascertained the Re-
turning Officer shall, subject to section 57 forthwith publicly declare to be
elected the candidate or candidates, as the case
may be, to whom the majority
of the votes has been given.
(5) References in this section to the ballot box
shall, where more than one ballot box is used pursuant to section 35(2) be
construed
as a reference to all the ballot boxes so used at the parliamentary
elec tion in the constituency concerned.
Procedure in
the event of a tie
57 (1) Where
it appears to the Returning Officer that, as a result of an equality of votes
cast between any of the candidates for election,
it is not possible to declare
the election of one or any of the candidates as re spects one or both, as the
case may be, of the
vacancies falling to be filled at a parliamentary election
in the constituency, then the Returning Officer shall, to the extent
that any
one of such candidates can be de clared to be elected, so declare him and
return his name into the office of the Deputy
Governor accordingly and shall in
addition report the cir cumstances of the casting of the equality of votes to
the Deputy Governor
forthwith.
(2) In any case where a report under subsection
(1) has been duly made, the parliamentary election in the constituency
concerned shall,
to the extent of the election of a candidate or candidates to
fill the vacancy or vacancies in respect of which there has been no
declaration, be deemed to be void; and a bye-election shall ensue within the
next succeeding period of two months to fill the vacancy
or vacancies not duly
filled at such parliamentary election.
Return of writ
of election
58 At the conclusion of a parliamentary
election the Returning Offi cer shall duly complete the writ of election
according to its terms
and shall return the same together with the name or
names of the candidate or candidates who have been declared elected into the
office
of the Deputy Governor not later than the second day after the day on which the
parliamentary election was concluded:
Provided that if such
second day is an excepted day the writ shall be returned not later than the
next succeeding day that is not
an excepted day.
Disposal of
deposits
59 The following provisions shall have
effect with respect to each deposit of two hundred and fifty dollars required
to be made under
section 32, that is to say —
(a) if after such deposit is made the candidate in
respect of whom it is made withdraws from the election pursuant to section 37,
his
deposit shall be returned to the person who made it;
(b) if such candidate dies after his deposit is
made and be fore polling commences, such deposit shall, if made by such deceased
candidate,
be returned to his estate rep resentative or, if not, it shall be
returned to the person who made it;
(c) if such candidate is not elected and the number
of votes polled by him does not exceed one eighth of the total number of ballot
papers counted, his deposit shall be forfeited to the Crown and shall be paid
into the Con solidated Fund;
(d) in any other case the amount deposited shall be
repaid to the person who made the deposit as soon as possible after the result
of
the election has been declared.
PART IX
OFFENCES
Secrecy during
and after poll
60 (1) Every
candidate, officer, clerk, agent or other person in at tendance at an election
room or at the counting of the votes shall
main tain and aid in maintaining the
secrecy of the voting, and no candidate, officer, clerk, agent or other person
shall—
(a) at the election room, interfere with, or
attempt to inter fere with, an elector when marking his ballot paper, or
influence or attempt
to influence the choice of an elector or otherwise attempt
to obtain information as to the candidate for whom any elector is about
to vote
or has voted;
(b) at any time, communicate any information as to
the manner in which any ballot paper has been marked in his presence in the
election
room;
(c) at any time or place, directly or indirectly,
induce or en deavour to induce any voter to show his ballot paper af ter he has
marked
it, so as to make known to any
person the name of the candidate for or against whom he has cast his vote;
(d) at any time, communicate to any person any
information obtained at an election room as to the candidate for whom any
elector at
the election room is about to vote or has voted; or
(e) at the counting of the votes, attempt to obtain
any in formation or communicate any information obtained at the counting as to
the
person by whom any vote is given in any particular ballot paper.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1)(a) an elector
who at the election room wears a shirt or other apparel having thereon a badge,
sticker,
sign, emblem, symbol, word or other mark indicating connexion with or
support for a political party shall not be guilty of an offence.
(3) No elector shall, except when unable to vote
in the manner prescribed by this Act on account of inability to read, blindness
or
other physical incapacity —
(a) upon entering the election room and before
receiving a ballot paper, openly declare for whom he intends to vote;
(b) show his ballot paper, when marked, so as to
allow the name of the candidate for whom he has voted to be known; or
(c) before leaving the election room, openly
declare for whom he has voted.
(4) Any person who contravenes or fails to
observe any provi sion of this section commits an offence.
(5) It shall be the duty of a Returning Officer
to draw the atten tion of any elector who has contravened subsection (2) to the
offence
that he has committed and to the penalty to which he has rendered
himself liable, but such elector shall nevertheless be allowed
to vote in the
usual way.
Misconduct at
parliamentary election
61 (1) Any
person —
(a) who at any parliamentary election —
(i) behaves in a violent, offensive or
disorderly manner in or about or within fifty metres of the election room or
improperly disturbs
or impedes the proceedings;
(ii) fails to leave an election room when
requested so to do by the Returning Officer;
(iii) interferes with a voter who is engaged in
voting;
(iv) obtains or attempts to obtain in the
election room information as to the candidates for whom a voter is about to
vote or has voted;
(v) directly or indirectly induces or
attempts to in duce any voter to display his ballot paper so as to show the
name of any candidate
for whom the voter has voted;
(b) who in the course of any proceedings before the
Regis trar behaves in a violent, offensive or disorderly manner or improperly
disturbs
or impedes the transaction of business; or
(c) who, subject to subsection (2), during the
hours when the poll is being taken on polling day, assembles or con gregates
with other
persons in an election room or within fifty metres thereof without
the permission of the Returning Officer for the constituency,
commits an
offence.
(2) Subsection (1)(c) shall not apply to —
(a) any voters who are waiting to vote at such
election room and who obey such instructions as may be given by the Returning
Officer
or any police officer for the purpose of forming a queue with other
voters so waiting; or
(b) any person who is only lawfully remaining in,
entering or leaving such room with reasonable despatch.
(3) Where a person commits an offence against
this section:
Punishment on
summary conviction: imprisonment for 1 year or a fine of $500 or both such
imprisonment and fine.
Returning
Officer to be conservator of peace
62 Every Returning Officer, during an
election, during the hours
that the polls are open, may —
(a) require the assistance of police officers or
other persons present to aid him in maintaining peace and good order at the
election;
(b) arrest or cause by verbal order to be arrested,
and place or cause to be placed in the custody of any police officer or other
persons,
any person disturbing the peace and good order at the election; and
(c) cause such arrested person to be imprisoned
under an order signed by him until an hour not later than the close of the
poll.
No person to
carry offensive weapons or propaganda apparatus on polling day
63 (1) No
person shall arm himself, during any part of polling day, with any offensive
weapon and thus armed approach within a kilometre
of an election room, unless
called upon so to do by lawful authority.
(2) No person shall —
(a) furnish or supply any loud speaker to any
person with intent that it be carried or used on any automobile truck or other
vehicle
for the purposes of political propaganda on polling day in a
constituency where a parliamentary election is taking place; or
(b) with any such intent, carry on any automobile,
truck or other vehicle any such loud speaker on polling day.
(3) Any person who contravenes any of the
provisions of this section commits an offence against this Act:
Punishment on
summary conviction: imprisonment for 1 year or a fine of $250 or both such
imprisonment and fine.
Bribery
64 A person shall be guilty of bribery —
(a) if he directly or indirectly, by himself or
through any other person on his behalf, gives or lends, or agrees to give or
lend, or
offers or promises, or promises to pro cure or to endeavour to
procure, any money or valuable consideration to or for any parliamentary
elector, or to or for any other person, in order to induce such elector to vote
or refrain from voting at a parliamentary election,
or corruptly does any such
act or thing as aforesaid on ac count of any parliamentary elector having voted
or re frained from voting
at a parliamentary election;
(b) if he directly or indirectly, by himself or through
any other person on his behalf, gives or procures, or agrees to give or
procure,
or offers or promises, or promises to procure or to endeavour to
procure, any office, place or employment to or for any parliamentary
elector,
or to or for any other person, in order to induce such elector to vote or
refrain from voting at a parliamentary election,
or corruptly does any such act
or thing as aforesaid on ac count of any parliamentary elector having voted or
re frained from voting
at a parliamentary election;
(c) if he directly or indirectly, by himself or
through any other person on his behalf, makes any gift, loan, offer, promise,
procurement
or agreement referred to in para graph (a) or (b) to or for any
person, in order to induce that person to procure or to endeavour
to procure,
the election of any person at a parliamentary election, or the vote of any
parliamentary elector at a parliamentary
election;
(d) if, upon, or in consequence of any such gift,
loan, offer, promise or agreement, he procures or engages or promises or
endeavours
to procure, the election of any person at a parliamentary election,
or the vote of any parliamentary elector at a parliamentary
election;
(e) if he advances or pays or causes to be paid any
money to or to the use of any other person, with the intent that that money or
any
part thereof should be expended in bribery at a parliamentary election; or
if he knowingly pays or causes to be paid any money to
any person in discharge
or repayment of any money wholly or in part expended in bribery at a
parliamentary election;
(f) if, being a parliamentary elector before or
during a par liamentary election, he directly or indirectly, by himself or
through any
other person on his behalf, receives, or
agrees or contracts for any money, gift, loan or valuable consideration, or any
office, place or employment, for himself or for
any other person, for voting or
agreeing to vote, or for refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting, at a
parliamentary election;
(g) if after a parliamentary election he directly
or indirectly, by himself or through any other person on his behalf, receives
any
money or valuable consideration on account of any person having voted or
refrained from voting, or having induced any other person
to vote or to refrain
from voting, at the parliamentary election.
Undue influence
65 (1) A
person shall be guilty of undue influence if he directly or indirectly, by
himself or through any other person on his behalf —
(a) makes use of or threatens to make use of any
force, vio lence or restraint; or
(b) inflicts or threatens to inflict any temporal
or spiritual injury, damage, harm or loss,
upon or against
any per son in order to induce or compel that person to vote or refrain from
voting or on account of that person
having voted or refrained from voting, at a
parliamentary elec tion, or to refrain from registering in a parliamentary
register.
(2) A person shall also be guilty of undue
influence if he di rectly or indirectly, by himself or through any other
person, by abduc
tion, duress, or any fraudulent device or contrivance—
(a) impedes or prevents any person from freely
exercising his right to vote at a parliamentary election or register in a
parliamentary
register; or
(b) compels, induces or prevails upon any person
either to vote or refrain from voting at a parliamentary election.
Punishment for
bribery and undue influence
66 Where a person is convicted on
indictment of bribery or of undue influence:
Punishment: imprisonment for 2 years or a fine of $1,000
or both such imprisonment and fine.
Standing for
election of unqualified persons
67 Any person who, not being qualified
under this Act to be elected at a parliamentary election and knowing that he is
not so qualified,
al lows himself to be nominated as a candidate or to be elected
at the elec tion commits an offence against this Act:
Punishment on
conviction on indictment: imprisonment for 2 years or a fine of $1,000 or both
such imprisonment and fine.
Personation and
voting if not qualified
68 A person commits an offence against
this Act who—
(a) applies under this Act to be included in any
parliamen tary register in the name of some other person, whether such name is
that
of a person living or dead or of a ficti tious person;
(b) applies to be registered in the parliamentary
register of a constituency knowing that he is not ordinarily resident therein;
(c) except as authorized by section 52, applies for
a ballot paper in the name of some other person, whether such name is that of a
person living or dead or of a fictitious person;
(d) having voted once at an election, applies at
the same election for another ballot paper;
(e) votes or attempts to vote at an election
knowing that he is not qualified to vote at the election; or
(f) induces or procures any other person to vote
at an elec tion knowing that such other person is not qualified to vote at the
election.
Offences
relating to voting
69 (1) A
person commits an offence against this Act who —
(a) forges a ballot paper or utters a forged ballot
paper;
(b) fraudulently alters, defaces or destroys a
ballot paper or the official mark impressed thereon;
(c) without authority under this Act, supplies a
ballot paper to any person;
(d) not being a person entitled under this Act to
be in pos session of a ballot paper, has, without authority, any ballot paper
in his
possession;
(e) forges the official mark used for impressing on
ballot papers;
(f) has in his possession without lawful authority
an in strument for impressing the official mark;
(g) fraudulently puts or causes to be put into a
ballot box a ballot paper or other paper;
(h) fraudulently takes a ballot paper out of the
election room;
(i) without authority under this Act, destroys,
takes, opens or otherwise interferes with a ballot box or book or packet of
ballot papers;
(j) without authority under this Act, prints any
ballot paper or what purports to be or is capable of being used as a ballot
paper at
an election;
(k) forges a voter's identification card or at any
election room utters a forged voter's identification card knowing the same to
be
forged;
(l) being a Returning Officer, places upon any
ballot paper any writing, number or mark with intent that the elector to whom such ballot paper is to
be, or has been, given may be identified thereby; or
(m) manufactures,
constructs, imports into Bermuda, has in possession, supplies to any election
officer, or uses for the purposes of
an election, or causes to be manufac tured,
constructed, imported into Bermuda, supplied to any election officer, or used
for the
purposes of any elec tion, any ballot box containing or including any
com partment, appliance, device or mechanism in or by which
a ballot paper may
or could be secretly placed or stored or, having been deposited during polling,
may be secretly diverted. misplaced,
affected or manipulated.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) and any
other provision of this Act, knowingly to do or omit to do an act is deemed to
be fraudu
lent if to do or omit to do the act results or would be likely to
result in the reception of a vote that should not have been cast
or in the
non-re ception of a vote that should have been cast.
(3) Where a person commits an offence under this
section:
Punishment on
conviction on indictment: imprisonment for 2 years or a fine of $1,000 or both
such imprisonment and fine.
Supplying
intoxicating liquor by way of organized treating
70 (1) Any
person who on the polling day before the closing of the poll at any
parliamentary election, by himself or with others gives
or pro vides by way of
organized treating, any intoxicating liquor for consump tion by electors in
connection with the holding
of the parliamentary elec tion, commits an offence:
Punishment on
summary conviction: a fine of $500.
(2) In this section "organized
treating" means the giving or pro viding of intoxicating liquor to some
person without charge
or at a re duced or unduly small charge to the person
consuming such liquor un der some arrangement which but for the election would
not have been made.
Disqualifications
71 Any person who is convicted of any
offence under sections 60, 61, 64, 65, 67, 68 and 69 shall, whether or not any
other penalty
is im posed, be disqualified, for a period of six years from the
date of the con viction, from being registered as a voter or voting
at any
parliamentary election and shall be further disqualified from being elected as
a member of the House of Assembly or of being
appointed as a member of the Sen ate
during the whole of such period.
Publishing of
forms
72 Any person who publishes, issues or
prints, or makes any copy of a form referred to in this Act without the
authority of the Registrar
and without placing thereon the words "Copy
only" in letters at least half an inch in height, commits an offence.
Breaches of
official duty
73 (1) Any
person who, being required under this Act to perform any official function
thereunder, without reasonable cause, commits, or
omits to do, any act in
breach of his duty under such provisions commits an offence.
(2) Any employer who on being requested by an
employee pur-
suant
to section 36(3) to allow him sufficient time off work to enable him to travel
to an election room and there record his vote
fails to allow him such time or
who penalizes an employee whom he has allowed time to so travel and vote
commits an offence.
General penalty
74 Where a person commits an offence under
this Act for which no specific penalty is provided:
Punishment on
summary conviction: imprisonment for 9 months or a fine of $500 or both such
imprisonment and fine.
PART X
MISCELLANEOUS
Registrar to
retain documents
75 (1) The
Registrar shall retain in safe custody for a period of one year all documents
relating to a parliamentary election delivered
to him by a Returning Officer
pursuant to this Act and shall then, unless other wise directed by an order of
the Supreme Court,
cause them to be de stroyed.
(2) The Registrar shall not, except by or under
the order of the Supreme Court, permit any other person to have access to or to
inspect
the documents retained by him under subsection (1).
Rules
76 (1) The
Governor shall make rules prescribing —
(a) the fees to be paid
to Returning Officers, presiding offi cers, scrutineers and other persons not
in Government service who
discharge duties in connection with a par liamentary
election;
(b) the forms to be used in connection with this
Act; and
(c) any other matter required to be prescribed by
this Act.
(2) Rules made under subsection (1) shall be
subject to affir mative resolution procedure.
Duty of
Commissioner of Prisons
77 It shall be the duty of the
Commissioner of Prisons as soon as may be after the issue of a writ of election
under this Act to transmit
to the Registrar a certified list of those persons
who will be disqualified from voting by virtue of section 4(2)(e).
Printing of
forms at public expense
78 Forms prescribed under this Act shall
be printed from time to time as circumstances may require under the supervision
of the Regis
trar and the cost of the printing shall be defrayed out of the
Consolidated Fund.
Commencement
and transitional
79 [omitted]
[Part III was
brought into operation on 2 January 1980 by BR 53/1979 and the re mainder of
the Act was brought into operation on
13 June 1980]
Repeal and
transitional
80 [omitted]
Amends No. 153
of 1968
81 [omitted]
SCHEDULE
Rules for the
Taking of a Poll
1 When a poll is required to be taken at
any parliamentary elec tion, a public notice of the poll shall be given by the
Returning
Officer as soon as the period for acceptance of the nominations is
closed. The names of all candidates nominated for the constituency
together
with the name of the parties to which they belong or the word
"independent" if they are so described in the
election document and
the names of their respective proposers and seconders shall appear in the
notice together with the date of
polling day and the hours when the poll will
be open. The notice shall be displayed conspicuously on or near the main door
of the
election room.
2 (1) The
Registrar or the Returning Officer shall ensure that on polling day the
election room is sufficiently furnished and equipped
to fa cilitate the proper
and orderly taking of the poll and shall in particular ensure that—
(a) one table (in these Rules referred to as an
"electoral table") is provided in the election room in respect of ev ery
450
electors (more or less) for use by officers in, and
by
election agents in observing, the checking of the cre dentials of, and the
handing out of ballot papers to, electors;
(b) a polling place is set aside in the election
room and sep arated by a barrier from the remaining parts of the room;
(c) the polling place is divided into compartments
of suffi cient size and so furnished that a voter can record his vote therein
screened
from observation and that a suffi cient number of such compartments
are provided having regard to the number of electors registered
in the con stituency;
(d) one of the compartments in the polling place is
of suffi cient size to accommodate at least three persons at a time for the
convenience
of handicapped electors;
(e) each compartment is furnished with an indelible
pencil or pen attached thereto;
(f) sufficient ballot papers are available printed
on paper capable of being easily folded up but of sufficient thick ness to
prevent
the marking on one side from being read through the paper from the
other;
(g) a ballot box is provided of convenient size,
furnished with a secure lock and key and so constructed that bal lot papers can
be
introduced into it but cannot be with drawn from it without the box being
unlocked.
(2) In arranging the furniture, equipment and manning
of an election room on polling day, the Returning Officer shall seek to ensure
a free flow of electors from the entrance, via the officer checking their cre dentials
to the officer handing out the ballot papers
and thence through the barrier,
one at a time, to the polling place and shall also position an officer in the
vicinity of the ballot
box to check that the market ballot pa pers are
introduced into the ballot box thereafter by electors in an or derly manner and
in accordance with these Rules.
3 For the guidance of electors in
voting, each compartment in the polling place shall be posted with the
directions written in conspicuous
characters and approved by the Registrar.
4 (1) No
candidate, except for the purpose of voting may be pre sent in the election
room during the taking of the poll nor shall any
can didate approach nearer
than seven metres to any of the doors of the election room during the hours
that the poll is open.
(2) The representation of candidates by election
agents in rela tion to candidates in the election room shall be governed by the
following
provisions of this paragraph—
(a) there shall be entitled to such representation—
(i) every political party having one or
more party candidates in the election; and
(ii) every independent candidate;
(b) the representation to which a political party
or indepen dent candidate is entitled under this paragraph is repre sentation
by one
election agent for each electoral table and, in addition, one further
election agent to perform any or all of the duties involved
in relieving
another agent and acting as courier or messenger for the party or independent
candidate for which or whom he is acting
as agent.
5 The Returning Officer immediately
before the commencement of the poll shall show the ballot box empty to such
persons as may then
be present in the election room so that they may see that
it is empty and shall, after placing therein any ballot papers which may
be
delivered to him in respect of an advanced poll, then lock it up and keep the
key himself and shall place the box in his view
for the receipt of ballot
papers keeping it so locked until the conclusion of the poll.
6 The Returning Officer shall not allow
anyone to be present in the polling place at any time during the poll except
the electors
engaged in voting, friends of handicapped voters, and the officers
assisting him in the election room, and no other person (except
an election
agent) shall be allowed within the election room during the poll without the
permission of the Returning Officer.
7 Where the responsibility for the
taking of a poll has been divided pursuant to section 35, a Returning Officer
shall ensure that—
(a) he (assisted by any presiding officer assigned
to him) is furnished with that part only of the voters list which pertains to
the
part of the poll that falls within his own responsibility;
(b) the relevant electoral table or tables are
assigned to
him;
and
(c) he checks the credentials of, and hands out
ballot pa pers to, those electors for whom he is responsible and no others.
8 A Returning Officer or presiding
officer shall check the identity of each intending elector by examining his
signed voter's card
or other means of identification produced, and verifying
from the copy of the vot ers' list in the officer's possession that the
elector
is not recorded as having already voted. If the Returning Officer or presiding
officer is so satisfied, and subject to
any challenge under section 50, a line
shall be drawn through the elector's name on the copy of the voters' list and
one ballot
paper shall be given to the elector.
9 (1) An
elector receiving a ballot paper shall proceed forthwith through the barrier to
one of the compartments of the polling place
and shall there, with the
indelible pencil or pen provided mark his ballot pa per and fold it up, so that
it cannot be seen for
whom he has voted but the official mark thereon is
visible upon it.
(2) The
elector shall then display the folded ballot paper to the Returning Officer,
permit the mark to be verified, and then put it
into the ballot box in the
presence of the Returning Officer without showing the front of it to any person
present.
(3) An
elector shall vote without undue delay and, having put his ballot paper into
the ballot box, he shall withdraw from the election
room forthwith.
10 At the count of votes the Returning
Officer shall endorse any ballot paper appearing to him to be void under
section 54 with the
word "rejected" and if an objection is made by or
on behalf of any candidate shall further endorse it with the words
"rejection objected to".
11 (1) On
the completion of the counting of the votes the Return ing Officer in the
presence of such of the candidates as may choose to
attend, shall seal up in
separate packets all—
(a) counted ballot papers;
(b) rejected ballot papers;
(c) spoilt ballot papers; and
(d) unused ballot papers in his possession,
and shall endorse
on each packet a description of its contents, the date of the election, and the
name of the constituency.
(2) The
Returning Officer shall then deliver all the aforesaid packets so endorsed to
the Registrar together with a statement showing
the total number of ballot
papers prepared by him for the election and accounting for them all under one
of the heads above mentioned.
[Amended by
1979 : 31
1980 : 42
1984 : 31
1989 : 57
1994 : 19
1997 : 22]
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