| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to make provision about the registration of electors and the administration and conduct of elections; and to amend section 3(2)(a) of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986. |
|---|---|
| Citation | c.6 |
| Introduced by | Nick Clegg,Deputy Prime Minister[1] (Commons) Lord Wallace of Saltarie,Lord-in-waiting (Lords) |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 31 January 2013 |
Status: Amended | |
| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
TheElectoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 (c. 6) is an Act of theParliament of the United Kingdom[2] which amendedelectoral law in the United Kingdom. It introducedIndividual Electoral Registration (IER).
The Westminster government had introduced IER toNorthern Ireland in 2002 in theElectoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Act 2002, but England, Wales and Scotland continued to use a system of householder registration.[3]
With theSixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies in some doubt following the collapse of theHouse of Lords Reform Bill 2012, there had been some criticism of the money spent on boundary reviews whilst also favouring introducing IER.[4] TheElectoral Commission suggested that there could be a severe drop in turnout as a result.[5] Section 6 of the Act effectively postponed the Sixth Periodic Review until "not before 1 October 2018".[6]
There are three parts to the Act.
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This part has twelve sections, which introduce and set the administrative structure for IER. The Act amends theRepresentation of the People Act 1983 and theRepresentation of the People Act 2000.
Alterations and improvements to the annualcanvass of voters are introduced in this part.
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This part alters the timetable of parliamentary elections, modifies the timetable forcivil parish 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" ofreturning officers.
Section 19 modifies the rules onjoint ticket candidatures at elections, permitting the use of an emblem of one of the parties or a combined emblem onballot papers.
Section 22 repeals from the provisions of theElectoral Administration Act 2006 for the setting up of aCoordinated Online Register of Electors.
This section deals with the extent and name of the Act.[2]
Committee stage discussion of the Bill commenced on Monday 29 November.[7] Amongst proposed amendments put forward for debate was a clause allowing for weekend voting, put forward byLord Rennard andLord Tyler.[citation needed]