Northern Ireland (Local Elections) Order 1977
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1977/428 |
| Year | 1977 |
1977 No. 428
NORTHERN IRELAND
The Northern Ireland (Local Elections) Order 19779thMarch 1977
16thMarch 1977
At the Court of Saint James, the 9th day of March 1977
Present,
The Counsellors of State in Council
Whereas Her Majesty, in pursuance of the Regency Acts 1937 to 1953(a), was pleased, by Letters Patent dated the 3rd day of February 1977, to delegate to the six Counsellors of State therein named or any two or more of them full power and authority during the period of Her Majesty's absence from the United Kingdom to summon and hold on Her Majesty's behalf Her Privy Council and to signify thereat Her Majesty's approval for anything for which Her Majesty's approval in Council is required:
And whereas a draft of this Order has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament:
Now, therefore, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Her Royal Highness The Princess Anne, being authorised thereto by the said Letters Patent, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 38(1)(a) of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973(b), and of all other powers enabling Her Majesty in that behalf, and by and with the advice of Her Majesty's Privy Council, do on Her Majesty's behalf order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:—
Citation, commencement and extent
1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Northern Ireland (Local Elections) Order 1977 and shall come into operation on the seventh day after the day on which it is made.
(2) This Order extends to Northern Ireland only.
Interpretation
2.—(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(c) shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(2) In this Order "the Act of 1962" means the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962(d) and "the Order of 1972" means the Electoral Law (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(e).
(3) In this Order expressions have the same meaning as in the Act of 1962.
(a) 1937 c. 16; 1943 c. 42; 2 & 3 Eliz. 2. c. 1.
(b) 1973 c. 36.
(c) 1954 c. 33 (N.I.).
(d) 1962 c. 14 (N.I.).
(e) S.I. 1972/1264 (N.I. 13).
District electoral areas
3.—(1) For the purposes of local elections, local government districts shall be divided into district electoral areas.
(2) Each local government district shall be divided into the district electoral areas specified opposite that district in column 2 of Schedule 1 and each of those areas shall comprise the wards specified opposite that area in columns 3 and 4 of that Schedule.
Local elections
4.—(1) At a local election any contested election in a district electoral area shall be according to the principle of proportional representation, each elector having one transferable vote.
(2) In this Article "transferable vote" means a vote—
(a) capable of being given so as to indicate the voter's preference for the candidates in order; and
(b) capable of being transferred to the next choice when the vote is not required to give a prior choice the necessary quota of votes or when, owing to the deficiency in the number of votes given for a prior choice, that choice is eliminated from the list of candidates.
(3) In the application of the Act of 1962 to local elections—
(a) in section 11(3) (as substituted by Article 3 of the Order of 1972) for the word "ward" there shall be substituted the words "district electoral area" and for the words from "under Rule 13" to "the said Rules" there shall be substituted the words "because of the death of any candidate or the poll in any polling station is adjourned,";
(b) in section 130 in the definitions of "current", "election" and "local election" after the word "ward" there shall be inserted the words "or district electoral area";
(c) for Schedule 5 there shall be substituted the schedule set out in Schedule 2 to this Order;
(d) Schedule 10, except Forms 2, 3, 4 and 5, shall not apply.
(4) Article 14 of the Order of 1972 shall not apply.
Candidates at local elections
5.—(1) Candidates at local elections shall be nominated and elected for district electoral areas and the number of councillors to be elected in a district electoral area to the district council of the district containing that area shall be the same as the number of wards contained in that area.
(2) A candidate at a local election shall not forfeit his deposit if the number of votes credited to him at any stage of the counting of the votes exceeds one-quarter of the quota needed to elect him and section 61(2) of the Act of 1962 shall have effect accordingly.
(3) Section 53 of the Act of 1962 (right to send election address post free) shall be extended and applied to candidates at contested local elections.
(4) In consequence of paragraph (1) of this Article, in section 1(1)(a) of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972(a) as amended by Article 4(8) of the Order of 1972 for the words from "1971" to "Order 1972; and" there shall be substituted the words—
"1973; or
(ia) elected for district electoral areas in the district in accordance with the provisions of the Northern Ireland (Local Elections) Order 1977; and";
so however that nothing in this paragraph shall affect the tenure of office of any member of a district council elected before the local general elections to be held in the year 1977.
Place and manner of voting as elector
6.—(1) All persons voting as electors at local elections shall do so in person at the polling station allotted to them for the purpose of those elections except in so far as this Article makes exceptions for—
(a) those registered as service electors;
(b) those who have a service registration depending on marriage to, and residence outside the United Kingdom to be with, a person registered as a service elector;
(c) those unable or likely to be unable to go in person to the polling station for one of the following reasons:—
(i) the general nature of the occupation, service or employment of the person in question;
(ii) the general nature of the occupation, service or employment of, and their resulting absence from their qualifying address to be with, their husband or wife;
(iii) that person's service as a member of any of Her Majesty's reserve or auxiliary forces;
(iv) the particular circumstances of that person's employment on the date of the poll either as a constable or for a purpose connected with the election by the returning officer;
(d) those unable or likely to be unable by reason either of blindness, any other physical incapacity or religious observance, to go in person to the polling station or, if able to go, to vote unaided.
(2) Section 67 (other than subsection (3) thereof) of and Schedule 7 to the Act of 1962 (voting by proxy) shall be extended and applied to—
(a) a person who is not registered as a service elector but who either—
(i) has made a service declaration in respect of a registration depending on marriage as described in paragraph (1)(b); or
(ii) is as a married person unable or likely to be unable to go to the poll by reason of absence in the circumstances described in paragraph (1)(c)(ii); and
(a) 1972 c. 9 (N.I.).
(b) any local elector who satisfies the electoral officer that in any six consecutive months he will or is likely to be at sea or out of the United Kingdom for a period or two or more periods together exceeding four weeks.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4) any of the persons mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) to (d) may vote by post if he applies to the returning officer not less than twelve days before the day of the poll to be treated as an absent voter and furnishes an address in the United Kingdom to which a ballot paper is to be sent for the purpose.
(4) A person shall not be entitled to vote by post—
(a) in the case of a person mentioned in paragraph (1)(c) or (d), if there is in force an appointment of a proxy to vote for him; or
(b) in the case of a person mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) or (b), if he applies to be treated as an absent voter on any ground other than his being qualified as a service elector.
Limit on election expenses
7.—(1) In section 42(1) of the Act of 1962 (as amended by Article 13(2)(c) of the Order of 1972) for the words from ", for a candidate at an election to the Council" there shall be substituted the words "and for a candidate at a local election is £45 together with an additional £0·01 for every elector (taken according to the number of electors in the register to be used at the election)".
(2) In section 42(3) of the Act of 1962—
(a) after "of expenses" insert "(a) at a parliamentary election";
(b) at the end add—
"and
(b) at a local election shall, for each of two joint candidates, be reduced by one-fourth or, if there are more than two joint candidates, by one-third.".
Filling of a casual vacancy
8.—(1) Where a casual vacancy occurs in a district council a meeting of the council to choose a person to fill the vacancy shall be held not less than 14 days nor more than 42 days after the occurrence of the vacancy.
(2) The clerk to the council shall give every member of the council not less than 7 days' written notice of the meeting which notice shall state as the first business of the meeting the choice of a person to fill the vacancy.
(3) Where a person chosen by the council is qualified to be a member of the council and is not objected to by any member of the council present at the meeting, that person shall be deemed for all purposes to have been duly elected a member of the council but otherwise the vacancy shall be filled in accordance with Article 9.
Bye-election for the filling of a casual vacancy
9.—(1) Where a meeting of a district council held under Article 8 fails to result in a person being deemed, under paragraph (3) of that Article, to be elected a member of the council, the vacancy shall be filled by a bye-election held in the district electoral area in which the vacancy has occurred.
(2) Where at a bye-election under this Article—
(a) no candidate stands validly nominated; or
(b) the number of candidates validly...
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