Requirement of secrecy
(1) Section 66 of RPA 1983 (requirement of secrecy) is amended as follows.
(2) After subsection (3) insert
“(3A) No person may—
(a) except for some purpose authorised by law, obtain or attempt to obtaininformation, or communicate at any time to any other person anyinformation, as to the number or other unique identifying mark on theback of a ballot paper sent to a person for voting by post at a relevantelection;
(b) except for some purpose authorised by law, obtain or attempt to obtaininformation, or communicate at any time to any other person anyinformation, as to the official mark on a ballot paper sent to a personfor voting by post at a relevant election;
(c) obtain or attempt to obtain information, in the circumstancesmentioned in subsection (3B), as to the candidate for whom a person voting by post at a relevant election (“V”) is about to vote or hasvoted;
(d) communicate at any time to any other person information obtained incontravention of paragraph (c).
(3B) The circumstances referred to in subsection (3A)(c) are where V is about tomark, is in the process of marking, or has just marked, a ballot paper sent toV for voting by post at the election.
(3C) But—
(a) a person (“E”) who is voting by proxy does not contravenesubsection (3A) by obtaining or attempting to obtain from the personappointed as E’s proxy information as to a matter mentioned inparagraph (a) or (c) of that subsection that relates to E’s vote, and
(b) a person who is appointed as proxy for an elector does not contravenesubsection (3A) by communicating to that elector information as to amatter mentioned in paragraph (a) or (c) of that subsection that relatesto that elector’s vote.
(3D) Subsection (3A)(c) and (d) does not apply where the purpose (or mainpurpose) for which the information is sought or communicated is its use forthe purposes of—
(a) a published statement relating to the way in which voters intend tovote or have voted at the relevant election, or
(b) a published forecast as to the result of that election which is based oninformation given by voters.
(3E) In subsection (3D)—
(a) “forecast” includes estimate;
(b) “published” means made available to the public at large or to anysection of the public, in whatever form and by whatever means;
(c) the reference to the result of the relevant election is a reference tothe result of the election either as a whole or so far as any particularcandidate or candidates at the election is or are concerned.
(3F) A person voting as proxy for an elector at a relevant election—
(a) must not communicate at any time to any person other than thatelector any information as to the candidate for whom the person isabout to vote, or has voted, as proxy for that elector;
(b) except for some purpose authorised by law, must not communicateat any time to any person other than that elector the number or otherunique identifying mark on the back of a ballot paper sent or deliveredto the person for voting as proxy for that elector.”
(3) After subsection (4) insert—
“(4A) No person having undertaken to assist a relevant voter to vote at a relevantelection may communicate at any time to any person except that voter anyinformation as to—
(a) the candidate for whom the voter intends to vote or has voted, or
(b) the number or other unique identifying mark on the back of the ballotpaper given for the use of the voter.
(4B) In subsection (4A) “relevant voter” means a voter who is blind, has anotherdisability, or is unable to read.”
(4) In subsection (5), after “to vote”, in the first place it occurs, insert “at an election inScotland or Wales under the local government Act”.
(5) After subsection (6) insert—
“(6A) In this section, “relevant election” means—
(a) a parliamentary election, or
(b) an election in England under the local government Act.”
(6) In rule 31 of Schedule 1 to RPA 1983 (Parliamentary elections rules: notification ofrequirement of secrecy)—
(a) in paragraph (1)(a), for “blind voter” substitute “relevant voter”;
(b) after paragraph (1) insert—
“(1A) In paragraph (1)(a) “relevant voter” means a voter who is blind,has another disability, or is unable to read.”
