{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/recall-of-mps-act-2015-recall-petition-regulations-2016/regulation-60",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/recall-of-mps-act-2015-recall-petition-regulations-2016/regulation-60.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2016/295",
  "legislation_title": "The Recall of MPs Act 2015 (Recall Petition) Regulations 2016",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/recall-of-mps-act-2015-recall-petition-regulations-2016",
  "path": "regulation/60",
  "kind": "regulation",
  "number": "60",
  "heading": "General requirements for applications for absent signing",
  "text": "(1) An application under Chapter 1 of this Part must state—\n(a) the full name of the applicant;\n(aa) the applicant’s national insurance number or, if they are not able to provide that information, the reason why they are not able to do so;\n(b) except in a case within subparagraph (c), the address in respect of which the applicant is registered or has applied to be (or is treated as having applied to be) registered in the registers of electors;\n(c) in the case of an application under regulation 58(5) (signing the petition by post as a proxy), the proxy’s address, together with the name of the elector for whom the applicant will act as proxy and the elector’s address for the purposes of subparagraph (b);\n(d) in the case of a person applying to sign the petition by post, the address to which the signing sheet should be sent;\n(e) in the case of an application to sign the petition by proxy, the grounds on which the applicant claims to be eligible to sign the petition by proxy;\n(f) in the case of a person who is unable to provide a signature (or a consistent or distinctive signature), the reasons for requesting the waiver of any requirement under regulation 51, regulation 53 or regulation 58 to provide a signature and the name and address of any person who has assisted in the completion of the application; and\n(g) where the applicant has, or has applied for, an anonymous entry, that fact.\n(2) The application must be made in writing and must be dated.\n(3) Where an application is required to contain a signature and date of birth, the information must be set out in a manner that is sufficiently clear and unambiguous as to be capable of electronic scanning into the record by configuring the information as follows—\n(a) the signature must appear against a background of white unlined paper of at least five centimetres long and two centimetres high, and\n(b) the applicant’s date of birth must be set out numerically configured in the sequence of date, month and year, namely [d][d][m][m][y][y][y][y].\n(4) Paragraph (3)(a) does not apply where the application contains a request that the registration officer waive the requirement for a signature.\n(5) An application under regulation 53 (absent signing at a particular petition: England and Wales and Scotland) or regulation 54 (absent signing at a particular petition: Northern Ireland) must—\n(a) state that it is made for a particular petition, and\n(b) identify the petition in question.\n(6) An application to sign the petition by proxy must also include an application for the appointment of a proxy which meets the requirements of regulation 57 (proxies at petitions) and (where applicable) regulation 63 (additional requirement for applications for the appointment of a proxy) and regulation 63A (additional requirements for applications for the appointment of a proxy on grounds relating to identification: England and Wales and Scotland).\n(6A) Where, by virtue of arrangements made by the Secretary of State, an application under Chapter 1 of this Part for absent signing at a particular petition in England, Wales or Scotland may be made through the digital service—\n(a) the Secretary of State may complete the application in part using information provided by the applicant as part of an application, or partially completed application, under section 10ZC or 10ZD of the 1983 Act for registration in, or alteration of, a register of electors made through or completed using the digital service;\n(b) where the application is required to contain a signature, the application must contain a compliant photograph or electronic scan of the applicant’s signature;\n(c) the Secretary of State must—\n(i) request that the applicant provide their most recent previous name (if they have one), and\n(ii) provide an explanation of the purpose for which the information will be used.\n(6B) In sub-paragraph (6A)(b) “compliant photograph or electronic scan of the applicant’s signature” means—\n(a) the signature contained in the photograph or electronic scan complies with the requirements of paragraph (a) of sub-paragraph (3), and\n(b) the photograph or electronic scan of the signature is sufficiently clear and unambiguous so as to comply with the requirements of sub-paragraph (3).\n(6C) Where an applicant is unable to provide a national insurance number in accordance with paragraph (1)(aa), the applicant may provide as part of the application a copy of any of the documents listed in regulation 72B(2) to (4).\n(6D) The Secretary of State must send to the appropriate registration officer—\n(a) subject to paragraph (6E), any application the Secretary of State receives via the digital service,\n(b) the applicant’s previous name (if any provided),\n(c) any copy documentation provided by the applicant in accordance with paragraph (6C), and\n(d) a reference number unique to that application.\n(6E) Where an application made through the digital service in accordance with paragraph (6A) includes the applicant’s national insurance number the Secretary of State—\n(a) may send the registration officer that application without the national insurance number, and\n(b) where the Secretary of State does so, must indicate to the registration officer that a national insurance number was included when the application was made by the applicant.\n(7) For petitions in Northern Ireland, the following modifications are made to this regulation—\n(a) an application under paragraph (1) must also contain—\n(i) the signature of the applicant; and\n(ii) an address in the United Kingdom to which the applicant’s signing sheet is to be sent, and\n(b) paragraphs (1)(aa) and (f) and (3) do not apply.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Reg. 60(1)(aa) inserted (31.10.2023) by The Representation of the People (Postal and Proxy Voting etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1147), regs. 1(2), 19(9)(a) (with Sch. 2 paras. 33, 35, 36, 39)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Words in reg. 60(6) inserted (16.1.2023) by The Voter Identification Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1382), regs. 1(3), 85 (with reg. 1(6)(7))"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Reg. 60(6A)-(6E) inserted (31.10.2023) by The Representation of the People (Postal and Proxy Voting etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1147), regs. 1(2), 19(9)(b) (with Sch. 2 paras. 33, 35, 36, 39)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "Words in reg. 60(7)(b) substituted (31.10.2023) by The Representation of the People (Postal and Proxy Voting etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1147), regs. 1(2), 19(9)(c) (with Sch. 2 paras. 33, 35, 36, 39)"
    },
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "Reg. 60 in force at 4.3.2016, see reg. 1"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/295/regulation/60",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-28T23:26:13.164279+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."
}