# Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2001, Regulation 81: Opening of covering envelopes


(1) When a postal voters' ballot box is opened, the returning officer shall count and record the number of covering envelopes, and shall then open each covering envelope separately.
(2) The procedure in regulation 82 below applies where a covering envelope contains both—
(a) a declaration of identity; and
(b) a ballot paper envelope, or if there is no ballot paper envelope, a ballot paper.
(3) Where the covering envelope does not contain the declaration of identity separately, the returning officer shall open the ballot paper envelope to ascertain whether the declaration of identity is inside.
(4) Where a covering envelope does not contain both—
(a) a declaration of identity (whether separately or not), and
(b) a ballot paper envelope or, if there is no ballot paper envelope, a ballot paper,
the returning officer shall mark the covering envelope “rejected”, attach its contents (if any) and place it in the receptacle for rejected votes.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2001/0110190580/regulation/81 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-representation-of-the-people-northern-ireland-regulations-2001/regulation-81
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.