# Representation of the People (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 1990, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 1986 (“the Regulations of 1986”). They extend to Scotland only.
Regulation 11 of these Regulations replaces the provisions in regulation 24 of the Regulations of 1986 about the attestation of declarations made by overseas electors. In place of the requirement for such declarations to be attested by an overseas attesting officer (as to these officers, see regulation 23 of the Regulations of 1986), the provision substituted by regulation 11 requires such declarations as need to be attested (as to which, see regulation 24(1), as substituted) to be attested by a British citizen who satisfies the conditions in regulation 24(2), as substituted. Regulation 10 of these Regulations substitutes a provision (for the redundant regulation 23) whereby overseas electors who by reason only of age were incapable of being included in a register of electors before leaving the United Kingdom are required to send a copy of their birth certificates with their overseas electors' declarations prior to their first registration. The franchise was extended to such persons by sections 2 and 3 of the Representation of the People Act 1989. By virtue of the Representation of the People Act 1989 (Commencement No.2) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/519), sections 1 to 4 of that Act come into force on 1st April 1990. Regulations 4, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15 and 34 of these Regulations make amendments to the Regulations of 1986 which are consequential on, or ancillary to, the changes made by those sections and the regulations explained in this paragraph.
Regulation 14 of these Regulations inserts a provision into the Regulations of 1986 whereby a registration officer is obliged to send reminders to persons registered in pursuance of overseas electors' declarations of the need to make a fresh declaration in order to be registered in the next register of electors.
The effect of the changes made by regulation 20 of these Regulations is to abolish the general requirement that applications for a postal or proxy vote for a particular parliamentary or local government election must be attested. However, the requirement for attestation is retained in respect of one of the two categories of persons for whom a later deadline for the receipt of such applications by the registration officer is set (as to which, see the amendments made by regulation 20 and regulation 21(2) of these Regulations). Attestation is required in respect of persons whose claim for a postal or proxy vote relates to their health on polling day when the relevant circumstances could not have been reasonably foreseen earlier.
Regulations 6, 17(1), 18(1) and (2) and 19(1) and (2) of these Regulations increase the fees therein referred to.
Regulation 16 of these Regulations concerns the supply of the register of electors to the returning officer at islands area and district council elections. Regulation 17(2) of these Regulations adds a provision whereby registration officers are obliged to supply, on payment of a fee, copies of the register to persons who satisfy the conditions therein set out.
Regulation 26 of these Regulations extends the matters in respect of which special provision can be made in the scale of charges for returning officers at an election where the poll is taken together with the poll at some other election. Regulation 28 of these Regulations substitutes the form set out in Schedule 2 for the form of return by a householder as to residents (form A in Schedule 2 to the Regulations of 1986).
Regulations 5, 6(a), 8, 21(3)(b) and (c), 22 to 25, 27(1) to (4) and 29 to 33 of these Regulations either seek to clarify the drafting of the Regulations of 1986 or the wording of certain forms (the elector’s official poll card and declarations of identity) in Schedule 2 to those Regulations, or correct errors or omissions.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1990/629/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/representation-of-the-people-scotland-amendment-regulations-1990/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.