Public Elections (Postal Voting) (Jersey) Law 1978

Jersey Law 4/1978 PUBLIC ELECTIONS (POSTAL VOTING) (JERSEY) LAW, 1978. ____________ A LAW to enable certain categories of persons to record their votes by post in a public election, sanctioned by Order of Her Majesty in Council of the 25th day of APRIL, 1978. ____________ ( Registered on the 9 th day of June , 1978) ____________ STATES OF JERSEY. ____________ The 18th day of October, 1977 ____________ T HE STATES , subject to the sanction of Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council, have adopted the following Law: - ARTICLE 1 INTERPRETATION (1) In this Law, unless the context otherwise requires – “the appointed day” means the day fixed for taking a Poll in pursuance of Article 3 of the principal Law; 1 “the Franchise Law” means the Franchise (Jersey) Law, 1968, 2 as amended; 3 “the Greffier ” means the Judicial Greffier ; “the principal Law” means the ‘ Loi (1897) sur les Elections Publiques’, 4 as amended. 5 (2) This Law shall be construed as one with the principal Law. ARTICLE 2 PERSONS ENTITLED TO VOTE BY POST (1) Subject to the provisions of this Law, a person whose name is inscribed on the electoral register in pursuance of the Franchise Law, and who is a person to whom paragraph (2) of this Article applies (hereinafter referred to as “a postal voter”) may vote by post in accordance with the following provisions of this Law at an election for Senator, Connétable or Deputy (hereinafter referred to as “an election”). (2) This Law applies to a person of any of the following categories – ( a ) a person who will be or is likely to be out of the Island on polling day; ( b ) a person who is suffering from a physical defect or disability by reason of which he will be incapable of attending personally at a polling station on polling day; and is able to satisfy the Greffier accordingly. ARTICLE 3 NOTICE TO POSTAL VOTERS (1) Immediately after the nomination of candidates in pursuance of Article 4 of the principal Law, 6 the President shall, if there is to be a Poll, notify the Greffier accordingly, and the Greffier shall cause to be published in the Jersey Gazette on two consecutive occasions, a notice, advising electors of their right to make application to have their names inscribed in the register of postal voters. (2) An elector who wishes to vote by post at an election shall apply to the Greffier at such time, in such form and in such manner as the Greffier may direct, to have his name entered in the said register. ARTICLE 4 REGISTER OF POSTAL VOTERS (1) For the purposes of this Law, the Greffier shall, in respect of each election to which this Law applies, establish in a book kept solely for that purpose, a register of postal voters (hereinafter referred to as “the register”). (2) The register shall be divided into sections, one for each parish, or constituency, as the case may be (hereinafter referred to as an “electoral district”) for the purpose of making entries in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (3) of this Article. (3) Upon receipt of an application under paragraph (2) of Article 3 of this Law, the Greffier shall, if he is satisfied that the applicant is a person to whom this Law applies, enter the name and address of that person together with his electoral number, in the section of the register for the electoral district in which he is entitled to vote, and against such entry the Greffier shall enter the letter he has allocated for that electoral district; the names entered in the register under this paragraph shall be numbered consecutively throughout the respective sections of the register. (4) A person whose name is entered in the register in pursuance of this Article shall be disqualified from voting in person at that election. ARTICLE 5 PROVISIONS AS TO BALLOT PAPERS ETC (1) The Greffier shall, as soon as practicable after the receipt of applications under paragraph (2) of Article 3 of this Law, transmit a request to the President stating the number of ballot papers required by him for the purposes of this Law, and on receipt thereof shall, in accordance with the following provisions of this Article, send by post to the postal voter – ( a ) a ballot paper; ( b ) a form of declaration of identity to be completed by the postal voter; ( c ) an envelope marked “B allot P aper E nvelope ”; ( d ) an envelope addressed to the Greffier (hereinafter referred to as a “pre-addressed envelope”). (2) A ballot paper sent under paragraph (1) of this Article shall be in the same form as, and indistinguishable from, the ballot paper delivered to other voters for the purposes of the election. (3) The Greffier shall stamp the face of the ballot paper with the official stamp referred to in clause (iii) of Article 9 of the principal Law, 7 and shall mark on the counterfoil of the ballot paper the electoral number of the postal voter, and the letter allocated to the electorial district in pursuance of paragraph (3) of Article 4 of this Law, and shall denote in the register that a ballot paper has been sent to that voter, but without disclosing the number of the said ballot paper. (4) The number of the ballot paper sent to a postal voter under paragraph (1) of this Article shall be marked on the form of declaration of identity and on the envelope marked “B allot P aper E nvelope ”. (5) The letter of the electoral district and the electoral number of the postal voter shall be marked on the pre-addressed envelope. (6) A postal voter to whom a ballot paper has been sent in accordance with the provisions of this Article shall mark and fold that ballot paper in accordance with the provisions of the principal Law, and the ballot paper shall be placed by him and sealed in the envelope marked “B allot P aper E nvelope ” and returned, together with the completed declaration of identity, in the pre-addressed envelope, to the Greffier , so as to reach him not later than noon of the day immediately preceding the appointed day. (7) On receipt of a pre-addressed envelope under paragraph (6) of this Article, the Greffier shall denote the fact in the register. ARTICLE 6 DOCUMENTS TO BE DELIVERED TO RETURNING OFFICER The Greffier shall, prior to the opening of the Poll, cause to be delivered to the relevant Returning Officer – ( a ) a copy of the section of the register for his electoral district; ( b ) all unused ballot papers, and the counterfoils of used ballot papers relating to his electoral district; ( c ) the unopened pre-addressed envelopes received under paragraph (6) of Article 5 of this Law. ARTICLE 7 DUTIES OF RETURNING OFFICER (1) On receipt of his copy of the register in pursuance of sub-paragraph ( a ) of Article 6 of this Law, the Returning Officer shall mark off on the electoral list the names of all persons disqualified from voting in person by virtue of the provisions of paragraph (4) of Article 4 of this Law. (2) On receipt of the pre-addressed envelopes in pursuance of sub-paragraph ( c ) of Article 6 of this Law, the Returning Officer shall, for the purpose of determining the total number of voters as required by Article 14 of the principal Law, 8 count the number of pre-addressed envelopes received by him, and this number shall be entered in the Return. (3) The Returning Officer shall, prior to the close of the poll, cause the pre-addressed envelopes to be opened, and if satisfied that the number on the form of declaration of identity coincides with the number on the envelope marked “Ballot Paper Envelope”, that the said form of declaration has been duly completed, and that all other formalities required by this Law have been duly complied with, he shall – ( a ) remove the ballot paper from the B allot P aper E nvelope and place the ballot paper in the ballot box provided for the election; and ( b ) attach the form of declaration of identity, the pre-addressed envelope and the Ballot Paper Envelope to the copy of the section of the register for his electoral district (4) If not so satisfied, the Returning Officer shall endorse the form of declaration of identity with the words “Vote Rejected” and place the envelope marked “Ballot Paper Envelope” unopened, with the form of declaration of identity and the pre-addressed envelope in a package used solely for that purpose. (5) Votes rejected in pursuance of paragraph (4) of this Article shall be treated as invalid within the meaning of Article 18 of the principal Law, 9 and for the purposes of the Return, the numbers on the ballot paper envelopes shall be treated as the ballot paper numbers. (6) On the conclusion of the voting but before the ballot box is opened for the purpose of counting the votes the Returning Officer shall seal the package referred to in paragraph (4) of this Article and in a further separate package used solely for that purpose, he shall seal the documents (including the copy of the register) referred to in sub-paragraph ( b ) of paragraph 3 of this Article. (7) Each package referred to in this Article shall be marked in the manner specified in Article 14 of the principal Law. 10 ARTICLE 8 DESTRUCTION OF DOCUMENTS As soon as possible after the election, the Returning Officer shall deliver to the Greffier the two sealed packages referred to in Article 7 of this Law, and the provisions of Article 20 of the principal Law 11 shall apply in relation to those packages. ARTICLE 9 PENALTIES Any person who – ( a ) for the purposes of obtaining registration as a postal voter under this Law, makes any declaration, or furnishes any information which he knows to be false; or ( b ) having been registered as a postal voter under this Law, votes, or attempts to vote in person at that election, shall be guilty of an offence under Article 31 of the principal Law 12 and shall be liable to be punished accordingly. ARTICLE 10 CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS (1) In the second paragraph of Article 3 of the principal Law 13 for the words “ vingt -et-un jours ” there shall be substituted the words “ trente -et-un jours ”. (2) In the first paragraph of Article 4 of the principal Law 13 for the words “ dix jours ” there shall be substituted the words “ vingt -et-un jours ”. (3) For the purposes of this Law, “ Appendice E” of the principal Law 14 shall have effect as if – ( a ) after the words “‡ ... votants se sont présentés pour voter”, there were inserted the words “* ... personnes ont votées par correspondance sous les dispositions de la Loi dite , ‘Public Elections (Postal Voting) (Jersey) Law, 1978’,”; ( b ) for the first item in the footnote there were substituted the following items – “‡ Insérer ici le nombre de votants qui se sont présentés pour voter. * id. id. le nombre de votants qui ont votés par correspondance ”. (4) At the end of paragraph (1) of Article 10 of the Franchise Law 15 there shall be inserted the words “and as soon as practicable thereafter, shall cause a copy thereof to be delivered to the Judicial Greffier for the purposes of the Public Elections (Postal Voting) (Jersey) Law, 1978”. ARTICLE 11 CITATION This Law may be cited as the Public Elections (Postal Voting) (Jersey) Law, 1978. R.S. GRAY Deputy Greffier of the States. 1 Tomes IV–VI, page 142 and page 193 of this Volume. 2 Volume 1968–1969, page 83. 3 Volume 1968–1969, pages 426 and 647, Volume and 1970–1972, pages 53 and 333 and page 193 of this Volume. 4 Tomes IV–VI, page 141. 5 Volume 1968–1969, page 92 and page 193 of this Volume. 6 Tomes IV–VI, page 143 and Volume 1968–1969, page 92. 7 Tomes IV–VI, page 148. 8 Tomes IV–VI, page 151. 9 Tomes IV–VI, page 153. 10 Tomes IV–VI, page 151. 11 Tomes IV–VI, page 154. 12 Tomes IV–VI, page 159. 13 Tomes IV–VI, page 143. 14 Tomes IV–VI, page 164. 15 Volume 1968–1969, page 89.