General Right to Vote
Electoral Law:
(2000: Representation of People Act)
• Section 1, subsection (1) states: "A person is entitled to vote as an elector at a parliamentary election in any constituency if on the date of the poll he (a) is registered in the register of parliamentary electors for that constituency; (b) is not subject to any legal incapacity to vote (age apart); (c) is either a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland; and (d) is of voting age (that is, 18 years or over)."

Exclusion Based on Mental Disability
Electoral Law:
(1983: Representation of People Act)
• Disqualification on the grounds of mental incapacity
(2000: Representation of People Act)
• Section 2 discusses the "disenfranchisement of offenders detained in mental hospitals."
Poll Worker Manuals:
Knight's Handbook for Presiding Officers and Polling and Counting Clerks: Produced by Charles Knight Publishing (1989)
• "It is possible that a person applying for a ballot paper will appear to the presiding officer [. . .] to be suffering from some mental disability. The presiding officer should not prevent such a person voting unless he is in such a state that he does not understand the purpose for which he has come to the polling station." P 23

Voter Assistance By Other Citizens
Electoral Law:
(2000: Representation of People Act)
• Section 13 revises Rule 39 of Representation of the People Act of 1983. This rule now reads:
o "(1) If a voter makes an application to the presiding officer to be allowed, on the grounds of (a) blindness or other physical incapacity…to vote with the assistance of another person by whom he is accompanied (in these rules referred to as 'the companion'), the presiding officer shall require the voter to declare, orally or in writing, whether he is so incapacitated by his blindness or other incapacity…as to be unable to vote without assistance."
o "(2) If the presiding officer (a) is satisfied that the voter is so incapacitated, and (b) is also satisfied by a written declaration made by the companion (in these rules referred to as 'the declaration made by the companion of a voter with disabilities') that the companion (i) is a qualified person within the meaning of this rule, and (ii) has not previously assisted more than one voter with disabilities to vote at the election, the presiding officer shall grant the application, and then anything which is by these rules required to be done to or by that voter in connection with the giving of his vote may be done to, or with the assistance of, the companion."
o "(3) For the purposes of these rules, a person is a voter with disabilities if he has made such a declaration as is mentioned in paragraph (1) above, and a person shall be qualified to assist a voter with disabilities to vote if that person (a) is a person who is entitled to vote as an elector at the election; or (b) is the father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, son or daughter of the voter and has attained the age of 18 years."
o "(4) The name and number in the register of electors of every voter whose vote is given in accordance with this rule and the name and address of the companion shall be entered on a list (in these rules referred to as 'the list of voters with disabilities assisted by companions'). In the case of a person voting as proxy for an elector, the number to be entered together with the voter's name shall be the elector's number."
o "(5) The declaration made by the companion (a) shall be in the form in the Appendix; and (b) shall be made before the presiding officer at the time when the voter applies to vote with the assistance of a companion and shall forthwith be given to the presiding officer who shall attest and retain it."
o "(6) No fee or other payment shall be charged in respect of the declaration."
• Further, the phrases "blind person" and "blind voter" are substituted "voter with disabilities. A note is added: "A voter with disabilities is a voter who has made a declaration under the parliamentary elections rules that he is so incapacitated by his blindness or other incapacity… as to be unable to vote without assistance."
Poll Worker Manuals:
Knight's Handbook for Presiding Officers and Polling and Counting Clerks: Produced by Charles Knight Publishing (1989)
• If a voter declares orally or on his voter application that he is incapacitated by blindness, other physical cause or that he is unable to read, "the presiding officer must, in the presence of the polling agents," mark the ballot paper for the voter as the voter directs. p 23
• A blind voter may vote with the assistance of someone of his choice who accompanies him to the polling station.
• The assistant must declare on written form that he has not assisted anyone else and under what qualification he/she fall in order to be an assistant
• The voter must declare orally that he is blind and unable to vote without assistance p 24

Off-Site Voting Alternatives
Electoral Law:
(1983: Representation of People Act)
• Section 19, subsection (1) states: "A person voting as an elector at a parliamentary election shall do so in person at the polling station allotted to him under the parliamentary elections rules except in so far as this section makes exceptions for…(c) those unable or likely to be unable, by reason either of blindness or any other physical incapacity…to go in person to the polling station or, if able to go, to vote unaided…"
• Section 20 states: "(1) An application to be treated as an absent voter at parliamentary elections shall be made to the registration officer and shall be allowed by him if he is satisfied that the applicant is, or will if registered be, entitled under section 19 above to vote as an absent voter. (2) The application shall be for a particular election only, unless it is based on…(b) the applicant's physical incapacity…"

Promotes Access
Electoral Law
(1983: Representation of People Act)
• Rule 29 (3A) states: "The returning officer shall also provide each polling station with (a) at least one large version of the ballot paper which shall be displayed inside the polling station for the assistance of voters who are partially-sighted; and (b) a device of such description as may be prescribed for enabling voters who are blind or partially-sighted to vote without any need for assistance from the presiding officer or any companion."
(2001: Representation of People Regulations)
• Section 12 states:
o "(1) The device referred to in rule 29(3A)(b) of the rules in Schedule 1 to the 1993 shall be of the description set out in this regulation."
o "(2) The device must be capable of being attached firmly to a ballot paper and of being removed from it after use without damage to the paper."
o "(3) On the right-hand side of the device there shall be tabs of equal size which satisfy the condition in paragraphs (4) to (7) below.
o "(4) The tabs shall be capable of being positioned on the ballot paper so that each one is above one of the spaces to the right of the particulars of the candidates on which the vote is to be marked ('the relevant space').
o "(5) Each tab shall be numbered so that, when the devide is positioned over a ballot paper, the number of each tab corresponds to that of the candidate whose particulars are to the left of the relevant space covered by the tab in question.
o "(6) Each number on a tab shall be in a raised form so that it can be clearly identified by touch.
o "(7) Each tab shall be capable of being lifted so as to reveal the relevant space and so that there is suffficient room to allow a voter to mark a cross on that space."