§ Electoral Reform Act 2022 s. 106Amendment of Second Schedule to Act of 1992

Amendment of Second Schedule to Act of 1992 106. The Act of 1992 is amended in the Second Schedule— (a) in Part I— (i) by the substitution of the following Rule for Rule 1: “Register, published register and closing date for registration 1. (1) The register shall be the register of electors including the postal voters list and the special voters list as maintained and updated by a registration authority in accordance with this Schedule and, notwithstanding the omission of their names and addresses from the register under section 15E(3)(b), shall include anonymous electors by such reference as the registration authority considers appropriate. (2) The register shall be deemed closed from the fourteenth day before polling day (disregarding any excluded day) at an election or referendum, and an application by a person under Part II of this Act, including an application to have his or her name entered in the register, received by the registration authority on or after that fourteenth day (disregarding any excluded day) before polling day shall have no effect in relation to that election or referendum. (3) The register in force at an election or referendum shall be the register published after the fourteenth day before polling day (disregarding any excluded day) at that election or a referendum and shall include the names of persons (if any) whose applications to be entered in the register were received before that fourteenth day before polling day (disregarding any excluded day) and allowed by the registration authority, or on appeal by the county registrar and, notwithstanding the omission of their names and addresses from the register under section 15E(3)(b), anonymous electors by such reference as the registration authority considers appropriate. (4) Where the date on, or by reference to, which any act or thing is required by this Schedule to be performed or done falls on an excluded day that act or thing shall be done on or by reference to the next following day which is not an excluded day.”, (ii) in Rule 2— (I) in paragraph (1), by the deletion of “the qualifying date for”, and (II) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (2): “(2) The names in the register for a registration area shall be arranged under polling districts and— (a) if the registration area is a city council, shall be arranged in street order unless the registration authority considers that, having regard to the general character of any part of the area, arrangement in street order for that part is inappropriate, (b) if the registration area is a county council, shall be arranged alphabetically in townland order unless the registration authority considers that, having regard to the general character of any part of the area, arrangement in street order or in any other order is possible and convenient, and (c) if the registration area is a city and county council, shall be arranged in street or townland order, having regard to the general character of any part of the area, as considered appropriate by the registration authority.”, (iii) by the deletion of Rule 4, (iv) by the substitution of the following Rule for Rule 5: “Maintaining and updating register 5. (1) In order to maintain and update the register, in accordance with section 20, each registration authority shall make sufficient inquiries in their registration area in accordance with this Rule. (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), each registration authority may do any one or more of the following: (a) conduct house to house inquiries; (b) by means of public notice or public meeting, invite persons to check, submit or update their details, as the case may be; (c) undertake any other activity the authority considers appropriate to gather such information or invite individuals to participate in the gathering of such information. (3) A registration authority may, for the purposes of its duties in relation to the maintenance and updating of the register require a person— (a) to provide any information in his or her possession which the registration authority may require, (b) without prejudice to the generality of subparagraph (a), to provide in respect of his or her own registration— (i) a personal public service number, if a person has one, (ii) address and Eircode, in respect of his or her address, and (iii) his or her date of birth, (c) to produce his or her certificate of birth, or, if that is not practicable, make a statutory declaration as to his or her age, (d) to produce proof of his or her address, or if that is not practicable, make a statutory declaration that he or she is ordinarily resident at the address he or she has provided, (e) to provide documentary evidence or make a statutory declaration that he or she is a person entitled to be registered as a Dáil elector under section 8, (f) to produce a certificate of naturalisation, a valid passport issued by the Minister for Foreign Affairs or make a statutory declaration that he or she is a citizen of Ireland, or (g) to produce a valid passport or national identity card issued by the authorities of a Member State (other than the State) or make a statutory declaration that he or she is a national of such a Member State, and where a statutory declaration is so required, any fees payable in connection with such a declaration shall be paid by the authority requiring it. (4) Subject to section 15E, the registration authority shall, during office hours, allow any person, for any purpose connected with the registration of electors, to inspect and take a copy of any declaration furnished under subparagraphs (c) to (g) of paragraph (3) but not the documentary evidence on which the declaration is based. (5) The registration authority may require an tArd-Chláraitheoir to furnish information in connection with deaths of persons in the registration area of the registration authority and the authority may use such information to update the register. (6) In this Rule— ‘certificate of birth’ means: (a) a document issued under section 13 (4) of the Civil Registration Act 2004 in respect of an entry in the register of births; (b) a certified copy of an entry in the Adopted Children Register maintained under section 22 of the Adoption Act 1952 which is issued under subsection (11) of that section; (c) a document purporting to be a copy of an entry in a foreign births entry book or in the foreign births register, both of which are kept under section 27 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 , and which is duly authenticated as such; (d) a document purporting to be a copy of an entry in the Register of Foreign Adoptions issued under section 6 (7) of the Adoption Act 1991; or (e) a document issued in accordance with a civil system of registration of births in the place where the birth occurs; ‘Member State’ means a Member State of the European Union.”, (v) by the deletion of Rule 6, (vi) by the substitution of the following Rule for Rule 7: “Third party claims in relation to the register 7. (1) Any person may claim to have a correction made in the register, including in particular a claim to have the name of a person entered on or removed from the register. (2) A claim submitted under this Rule on or after the closing date in respect of an election or referendum shall have no effect in respect of the register in force for that election or referendum. (3) The registration authority shall, on the application of any person, supply forms on which third party claims may be made. (4) A claim shall include the name, address and contact details of the claimant, details of information relevant to the claim and the grounds on which the claim has been made and such other information in relation to the claim as the registration authority may reasonably require to be provided by the claimant. (5) The registration authority shall prepare and make available for inspection a list of claims received in the previous month in such form as may be directed by the Minister. (6) Subject to section 15E, the registration authority shall, during office hours, allow any person, for any purpose connected with the registration of electors, or who, in the opinion of the authority, may be affected by the claim, to inspect and take a copy of a claim or extracts from a claim or may provide to such a person copies of a claim. (7) The registration authority shall, on receipt of a claim— (a) make such inquiries as it considers necessary and appropriate for the purpose of considering the claim, and paragraphs (2), (3) and (5) of Rule 5 shall apply in relation to the consideration of such claims, and (b) notify the claimant and any other person who, in the opinion of the authority, may be affected by or interested in, the claim, of the process to be followed. (8) The registration authority shall, as soon as practicable, consider any claim and determine what action, if any, it should take in respect of the claim and decide— (a) subject to paragraphs (3) and (4) of Rule 10, to amend the register by proposing to remove the name of a person from the register, (b) to amend the register to correct information other than by proposing to remove the name of a person from the register, or (c) not to amend the register. (9) The registration authority shall make its decision within 4 weeks from the date of receipt of the claim and shall, as soon as practicable, inform the claimant and any person who, in the opinion of the registration authority, may be affected by its decision and of the action it proposes to take as a consequence of its decision and of the right of the person affected to appeal the decision to the county registrar in accordance with Rule 39. (10) Where a claim relates to any person whose name the claimant considers should be entered in the register, the registration authority shall, where it considers it appropriate, provide information and the appropriate forms to any person referred to in the claim which the person may use to apply to be included on the register in accordance with section 15D. (11) A person affected by the decision of a registration authority under— (a) paragraph (8)(a), or (b) paragraph (8)(b) other than where the decision concerns the correction of an inaccuracy which does not involve a change of substance or the deletion of the name of a person who is deceased, may appeal the decision to the county registrar in accordance with Rule 39. (12) A decision of the registration authority under subparagraphs (a) or (b) of paragraph (8) shall take effect on the expiration of the period of time for the making of an appeal under Rule 39 or, where applicable, section 21.”, (vii) by the deletion of Rule 8, (viii) in Rule 9— (I) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (2): “(2) The county registrar, if it appears to him or her that the register should be corrected in any respect, may himself or herself make a claim for a correction.”, and (II) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (3): “(4) Where a county registrar (the ‘first county registrar’) has made a claim for a correction under this Rule, any appeal of such a claim shall be considered and determined by a county registrar in an adjacent registration area (the ‘second county registrar’) and the first county registrar shall make such arrangements with a second county registrar as may be necessary to transfer such appeals to the county registrar to enable him or her to consider and determine that appeal.”, (ix) by the substitution of the following Rule for Rule 10: “Correction of register by registration authority 10. (1) The registration authority shall take steps to ascertain if any corrections in the register are necessary because of errors of a clerical or typographical nature or because of misnomers or inaccurate descriptions and, if any such corrections are considered to be necessary, the registration authority shall correct the register accordingly and make available for inspection a list of corrections made in the previous month. (2) The registration authority shall make any corrections by way of the removal of duplicate entries (subject to any expression of choice in accordance with section 11(1)(b) by any person affected by those entries), the deletion of the names of persons who are deceased, or the placing of marks or the correction of marks placed against the name of an elector, or otherwise as may be necessary in order to ensure that— (a) a person is not registered as an elector more than once, and (b) the register is complete and accurate. (3) Where a registration authority considers it necessary under paragraph (2), in order to ensure a complete and accurate register, to remove a name, other than that of a deceased person, from the register, it shall make not less than 3 documented attempts at contacting the person concerned giving appropriate notice and clear information on how to update the register under section 15D(2) should the person wish to do so. (4) On the third documented attempt at contacting a person whose name the registration authority considers should be removed from the register under paragraph (3), the authority shall provide a notice to the person informing him or her of the date on which the decision to remove his or her name from the register shall take effect and that the person may appeal the decision to the county registrar in accordance with Rule 39. (5) A registration authority may at any time up to the end of the period within which an appeal may be made withdraw a decision to delete the name of a person from the register.”, (x) by the substitution of the following Rule for Rule 11: “Notice and appeal in relation to correction by registration authority 11. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2), (3) and (4) of Rule 10, where the registration authority decides to make any corrections in the register under section 20 and Rule 10(2) (other than to correct an inaccuracy which does not involve a change of substance or the deletion of the name