# The Senedd Cymru (Representation of the People) Order 2025, Paragraph 16: Cancellation of postal ballot papers

Extent: E+W

(1) Where after the deadline for the delivery of nomination papers an application under—
(a) article 6(5)(a) (application to remove a person from record of absent voters),
(b) article 6(6) or 7(4)(b) (application to vote by proxy by person recorded as voting by post),
(c) article 6(8) (application to vote by post by person recorded as voting by proxy),
(d) article 7(4)(a) (application for ballot paper to be sent to a different address),
(e) article 9(6) or (7) (application to vote by proxy),
(f) article 10(7) (application from proxy postal voter for postal ballot paper to be sent to a different address), or
(g) article 10(10)(a) (application from proxy postal voter to be removed from the record of postal proxies),
is granted, or a notice under article 9(9) (cancellation of proxy appointment) is received, and the application or notice is not to be disregarded for the purposes of the election under paragraph 11 of Schedule 1 (closing dates for absent vote applications), the registration officer must notify the returning officer who must immediately cancel any postal ballot paper issued to the elector or proxy and, in the case of an application mentioned in paragraph (d) or (f) of this sub-paragraph, must issue a replacement ballot paper.
(2) Where a person returns a postal ballot paper that has been or is to be cancelled, whether to the registration officer or the returning officer, it must be dealt with as follows—
(a) the ballot paper, together with any other ballot papers, postal voting statements or covering envelopes which are returned to the registration officer, must be given by the registration officer to the returning officer;
(b) any document returned in accordance with this sub-paragraph but not cancelled in accordance with sub-paragraph (1) must be immediately cancelled;
(c) as soon as practicable after cancelling those documents, the returning officer must make up those documents in a separate packet, and must seal the packet, and if on any subsequent occasion additional documents are returned in accordance with this paragraph, the sealed packet must be opened and the additional cancelled documents included in it and the packet must then be again made up and sealed.
(3) The returning officer must enter in a list kept for the purpose of recording postal ballot papers cancelled under this paragraph (“the list of cancelled postal ballot papers”)—
(a) the name and number of the elector as stated in the register or, in the case of an elector who has an anonymous entry, the elector’s electoral number alone,
(b) the number of the cancelled postal ballot paper,
(c) the number of any replacement ballot paper issued under sub-paragraph (1), and
(d) where the postal voter is a proxy, the proxy’s name and address.
(4) Paragraphs 5, 6, 7, 9, except sub-paragraph (2), and 10 to 13 apply to the issue of a replacement postal ballot paper under sub-paragraph (1).

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2025/864/schedule/2/paragraph/16 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/senedd-cymru-representation-of-the-people-order-2025/schedule-2/paragraph-16
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.