{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/electoral-law-act-northern-ireland-1962/section-53",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/electoral-law-act-northern-ireland-1962/section-53.json",
  "legislation": "apni/1962/14",
  "legislation_title": "Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/electoral-law-act-northern-ireland-1962",
  "path": "section/53",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "53",
  "heading": "Right to send election address post free.",
  "text": "(1) A candidate at a parliamentary or local election shall, subject to such reasonable terms and conditions as the universal service provider may specify, be entitled to send free of any charge for postage which would otherwise be made by a universal service provider to each elector one postal communication containing matter relating to the election only and not exceeding 60 grammes in weight.\n(2) A person shall not be deemed to be a candidate for the purposes of this section unless he is shown as standing validly nominated in the statement of persons nominated, but until the publication of that statement any person who declares himself to be a candidate shall be entitled to exercise the right of free postage conferred by this section if he gives such security as may be required by the universal service provider concerned for the payment of postage should he not be shown as standing validly nominated as aforesaid.\n(3) For the purposes of this section, candidates who are, under sub-section (4) of section forty-two, deemed to be joint candidates shall be treated as a single candidate.\n(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .",
  "extent": "N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Ext. (local elections), SI 1977/428"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "SI 1985/454"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "SI 2001/1149"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "To be construed as Post Office, 1969 c.48"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F5",
      "text": "Words in s. 53(1) substituted (16.12.2010) by Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/2977), arts. 1(2), 4, Sch. 1 para. 17(2) (with art. 1(3))"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F6",
      "text": "S. 53(4) omitted (16.12.2010) by virtue of Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/2977), arts. 1(2), 4, Sch. 1 para. 17(3) (with art. 1(3))"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/apni/1962/14/section/53",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T21:32:59.497504+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}