The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 (c. 6) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

Text of proposed Bill
Parliament.uk which amended

electoral law Election law is a branch of public law that relates to the democratic processes, election of representatives and office holders, and referendums, through the regulation of the electoral system, voting rights, ballot access, election management ...

in the United Kingdom. It introduced Individual Electoral Registration (IER). The Westminster government had introduced IER to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in 2002 in the

Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 The Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 (2002 c. 13) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which reformed the electoral system in Northern Ireland. The act amended the Representation of the People Act 1983 by strengthening the ...

, but England, Wales and Scotland continued to use a system of householder registration.

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, 15 September 2010
Individual voter ID plan brought forward to 2014
/ref> With the

Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2013 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, also known as the sixth Review, or just boundary changes, was an ultimately unfruitful cycle of the process by which constituencies of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom are reviewe ...

in some doubt following the collapse of the

House of Lords Reform Bill 2012 The House of Lords Reform Bill 2012 was a proposed Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom introduced to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in June 2012 by Nick Clegg. Among other reforms, the bill would have made the ...

, there had been some criticism of the money spent on boundary reviews whilst also favouring introducing IER. The

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

suggested that there could be a severe drop in turnout as a result. Section 6 of the Act effectively postponed the Sixth Periodic Review until "not before 1 October 2018". There are three parts to the Act.

Part 1: Individual Electoral Registration in Great Britain

This part has twelve sections, which introduce and set the administrative structure for IER. The Act amends the

Representation of the People Act 1983 The Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the British electoral process in the following ways: * Amended the Representation of the People Act 1969. * Stated that a convicted pe ...

and the

Representation of the People Act 2000 The Representation of the People Act 2000 (c.2) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that changed the British electoral process in four minor amendments to the Representation of the People Act 1983: * It removed most restrictions on ...

. Alterations and improvements to the annual

canvass Canvassing is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals, commonly used during political campaigns. Canvassing can be done for many reasons: political campaigning, grassroots fundraising, community awareness, membership driv ...

of voters are introduced in this part.

Part 2: Administration and Conduct of Elections etc

This part alters the timetable of parliamentary elections, modifies the timetable for

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

elections in England and Wales, changes the regulations around the register of electors in specific circumstances, and alters the 1983 Representation of the People Act with regard to polling districts. Section 18 introduces changes to existing regulations relating to the "inadequate performance" of

returning officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral c ...

s. Section 19 modifies the rules on

joint ticket {{voting A ticket refers to a single election choice which fills more than one political office or seat. For example, in Guyana, the candidates for President and Parliament run on the same "ticket", because they are elected together on a single ...

candidatures at elections, permitting the use of an emblem of one of the parties or a combined emblem on

ballot papers A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16t ...

. Section 22 repeals from the provisions of the

Electoral Administration Act 2006 The Electoral Administration Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed on 11 July 2006. Among its main provisions, the Act: * Provides a legislative framework for setting up a "Coordinated Online Record of Electors", kn ...

for the setting up of a

Coordinated Online Register of Electors The Electoral Administration Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed on 11 July 2006. Among its main provisions, the Act: * Provides a legislative framework for setting up a "Coordinated Online Record of Electors", kn ...

Part 3: Final Provisions

This section deals with the extent and name of the Act.

Proposed amendments

Committee stage discussion of the Bill commenced on Monday 29 November.The Electoral Registration and Administration Bill begins committee stage, line by line scrutiny of the bill, in the House of Lords today (Monday 29 October)
Parliament.uk Amongst proposed amendments put forward for debate was a clause allowing for weekend voting, put forward by

Lord Rennard Christopher John Rennard, Baron Rennard, (born 8 July 1960) is a British life peer in the House of Lords, appointed to the Liberal Democrats' benches in 1999. He was Director of Campaigns & Elections for the Liberal Democrats from 1989 to 20 ...

and Lord Tyler.

References

{{UK legislation

External links

* http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/6/contents Election law in the United Kingdom Election legislation Electoral reform in the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2013