OpenLegislation

Rule 3 InterpretationI1C1

England and Wales

(1)

In these Rules—

  • “the 1983 Act” (“Deddf 1983”) means the Representation of the People Act 1983;

  • “the Combination of Polls Regulations” (“Rheoliadau Cyfuno Pleidleisiau”) means the Representation of the People (Combination of Polls) (England and Wales) Regulations 2004f1;

  • “excluded day” (“diwrnod eithriedig”) means a day that is—

    1. (a)

      a Saturday;

    2. (b)

      a Sunday;

    3. (c)

      Christmas Eve;

    4. (d)

      Christmas Day;

    5. (e)

      Good Friday;

    6. (f)

      a day that is a bank holiday in England and Wales under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971f2;

    7. (g)

      F1a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning;

  • “home address information” (“gwybodaeth am gyfeiriad cartref”) in relation to a person nominated—

    1. (a)

      in Schedule 1, has the meaning given by rule 13(3) of that Schedule, and

    2. (b)

      in Schedule 2, has the meaning given by rule 13(3) of that Schedule.

(2)

For the purposes of these Rules, an election is a “relevant election” if it is one of the following elections and the poll at the election is taken together with the poll at an election of councillors to a community council—

(a)

a parliamentary election;

(b)

an election of councillors to a county council or county borough council;

(c)

a mayoral election, that is, an election conducted under the Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007f3;

(d)

a police and crime commissioner election, that is, an election of a police and crime commissioner in accordance with Chapter 6 of Part 1 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011f4.

(3)

In these Rules, unless otherwise indicated, the following words and expressions have the same meaning as in the 1983 Act (see sections 202(1) and 203(1)f5 of that Act)—

  • “anonymous entry” (“cofnod dienw”);

  • “disability” (“anabledd”);

  • “election court” (“llys etholiad”);

  • “election petition” (“deiseb etholiad”);

  • “elector” (“etholwr”);

  • “electoral area” (“ardal etholiadol”);

  • “list of proxies” (“rhestr dirprwyon”);

  • “postal voters list” (“rhestr pleidleiswyr post”);

  • “proper officer” (“swyddog priodol”);

  • “proxy postal voters list” (“rhestr pleidleiswyr post drwy ddirprwy”);

  • “record of anonymous entries” (“cofnod cofnodion dienw”);

  • “voter” (“pleidleisiwr”).

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1

Words in rule 3(1) inserted (10.3.2022) by The Local Elections (Miscellaneous and Consequential Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/263), regs. 1(2), 5(3) (with reg. 12(b))

Modifications

C1

Rule 3 applied (with modifications) (18.7.2025) by The Senedd Cymru (Representation of the People) Order 2025 (S.I. 2025/864), art. 1(2), Sch. 3 paras. 26, 27 (with art. 1(4))

Commencement

I1

Rule 3 in force at 17.12.2021, see rule 1

Footnotes

f1

S.I. 2004/294 as amended by paragraph 17 of Schedule 2 to the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 and by S.I. 2006/3278, S.I. 2012/1917, S.I. 2014/920 and S.I. 2015/654.

f2

1971 c. 80.

f3

S.I. 2007/1024; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2010/1172, S.I. 2011/926, S.I. 2012/1917, S.I. 2014/1370 and S.I. 2018/1310.

f4

2011 c. 13. Chapter 6 of Part 1 was amended by the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (c. 22) (Schedule 8, paragraph 184), by the Local Government (Democracy) (Wales) Act 2013 (anaw 4) (Schedule 1, paragraph 5), by the Policing and Crime Act 2017 (c. 3) (section 122(1), Schedule 2, paragraph 117 and Schedule 9, paragraph 73) and by the Wales Act 2017 (c. 4) (section 8). It was also amended by S.I. 2014/268, S.I. 2015/1376, S.I. 2015/1526, S.I. 2016/997, S.I. 2017/470 and S.I. 2018/1310.

f5

Section 202(1) was amended by the Representation of the People Act 1985 (Schedule 2, paragraph 3), by the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c. 29) (Schedule 3, paragraph 38), by the Representation of the People Act 2000 (c. 2) (Schedule 6, paragraph 9), by the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (Schedule 1, paragraphs 13, 76 and 128) and by the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (Schedule 2, paragraph 2(17)). Section 203(1) was amended by the Representation of the People Act 1985 (Schedule 4, paragraph 71) and by the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (Schedule 2, paragraph 2(18)). There are other amendments but they are not relevant to these Rules.