Regulation 27 Alignment of certain signature refresh dates

(1)

This regulation applies where immediately before the relevant day—

(a)

a person (“P”) has—

(i)

a devolved proxy vote entitlement, and

(ii)

a reserved proxy vote entitlement, and

(b)

the signature refresh date for P’s devolved proxy vote entitlement and P’s reserved proxy vote entitlement are different.

(2)

The signature refresh date for P’s devolved proxy vote entitlement and P’s reserved proxy vote entitlement will be aligned.

(3)

The aligned signature refresh date will end on the signature refresh date for P’s reserved proxy vote entitlement.

(4)

As soon as practicable after the relevant day, the registration officer must apply the signature provided by P in respect of P’s reserved proxy vote entitlement, as necessary, to all records, as applicable to P, kept under—

(a)

article 8(9) or 9(8) and paragraph 22 of schedule 3 of the 2015 Order, or

(b)

paragraph 3(9) or 4(6) of schedule 4 of the 2000 Act^f1, and

(c)

where records listed in sub-paragraph (b) are being updated—

(i)

section 21(6) of the 2006 Act, or

(ii)

regulation 61B of the 2001 Regulations^f2.

(5)

The reserved signature applied under paragraph (4)—

(a)

is deemed to be a signature provided under paragraph 3(1) of schedule 3 of the 2015 Order, paragraph 7A(1) of schedule 4 of the 2000 Act^f3, or section 22(2) of the 2006 Act, and

(b)

paragraph 3(2) of schedule 3 of the 2015 Order, paragraph 7A(2) of schedule 4 of the 2000 Act or section 22(4) of the 2006 Act apply to that replacement signature.

(6)

Any requirement to send P a regulation 15A notice, a paragraph 14 notice or a regulation 60A notice will apply to the signature refresh date as amended due to the operation of this regulation.

(7)

When a regulation 15A notice, a paragraph 14 notice or a regulation 60A notice is issued, the relevant notice must inform P of the amended signature refresh date and the reason why it has changed.

(8)

In this regulation—

“paragraph 14 notice” means a notice under paragraph 14 of schedule 3 of the 2015 Order,
“signature refresh date” means the 31 January, as applicable to P, by which the registration officer would be, or may be, required to send P—
1. (a)
  
  a regulation 15A notice due to P’s signature held on the personal identifiers record kept by the registration officer under section 21(6) of the 2006 Act being more than 5 years old^f4,
2. (b)
  
  a paragraph 14 notice, or
3. (c)
  
  a regulation 60A notice,
assuming there has been no change in P’s entitlement or entitlements to vote by proxy after the relevant day.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: Paragraphs 3(9) and 4(6) were inserted by section 14(1) and (2) of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (c. 22).
f2: Regulation 61B was inserted by S.I. 2008/305 and amended by S.I. 2015/1966.
f3: Paragraph 7A was inserted by section 14(4) of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (c. 22).
f4: S.S.I. 2025/263 temporarily disapplied any requirement under regulation 15A(1) and (2) of the Representation of the People (Absent Voting at Local Government Elections) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 for registration officers to send a notice requesting a fresh signature from any person entitled to vote by post or proxy and whose signature on record is more than 5 years old where the notice under regulation 15A(1) and (2) would otherwise be sent by 7 May 2026. In these circumstances the registration officer is required to send the notice by 31 January 2027.