Rule 58 Further provision about postal ballot papersI1

England and Wales

(1)

This rule applies for determining whether a postal ballot paper is to be treated as properly returned as mentioned in rules 55(8)(a) and 57(3).

(2)

A postal ballot paper is to be treated as properly returned if the ballot paper and the accompanying postal voting statement properly completed are—

(a)

handed in at a polling station in the appropriate area before the close of the poll,

(b)

given by hand to the returning officer before the close of the poll, or

(c)

received by the returning officer by post before the close of the poll.

(3)

A postal voting statement is properly completed if—

(a)

it is signed by the elector or (as the case may be) the proxy, unless the registration officer has dispensed with the requirement for a signature,

(b)

it states the date of birth of the elector or (as the case may be) the proxy, and

(c)

in a case where steps for verifying the date of birth and signature of an elector or proxy have been prescribed by regulations under the 1983 Act, the returning officer has taken those steps and verified the date of birth and (except in a case where the requirement for a signature has been dispensed with) the signature.

(4)

Where, at the close of the poll, a person is in the polling station, or in a queue outside the polling station, for the purpose of handing in a postal ballot paper and postal voting statement—

(a)

the person must be permitted to hand the ballot paper and statement in at the polling station, and

(b)

where handed in, they are to be treated as having been handed in before the close of the poll for the purposes of this rule.

(5)

“The appropriate area” referred to in paragraph (2)(a) is the area which is identified by—

(a)

establishing the polls in respect of which the postal voter has been issued with a ballot paper,

(b)

identifying the constituency or other area in respect of which each of those polls is being held, and

(c)

then identifying the area that is common to all those areas.

Annotations

Commencement

I1: Sch. 2 rule 58 in force at 17.12.2021, see rule 1

Notes on Schedule 2

Modifications

C1: Sch. 2 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, 29 (with art. 1(4))