offence of personation who, at an election for a county or borough, Sect. 24 or at a municipal election, applies for a ballot paper in the name of some other person, whether that name be that of a person living or dead or of a fictitious person, or who, having voted once at any such election, applies at the same election for a ballot paper in his own name. * It shall be the duty of the returning officer to institute a prosecution against any person whom he may believe to have been guilty of personation, or of aiding, abetting, counselling, or procuring the commission of the offence of personation by any person, at the election for which he is returning officer, and the costs and expenses of the prosecutor and the witnesses in such case, together with compensation for their trouble and loss of time, shall be allowed by the court in the same manner in which courts are empowered to allow the same in cases of felony. The provisions of the Registration Acts, specified in the Third Schedule to this Act, shall in England and Ireland respectively apply to personation under this Act in the same manner as they apply to a person who knowingly personates and falsely assumes to vote in the name of another person as mentioned in the said Acts. As to personation at municipal elections and at elections of county councillors, see the Municipal Elections (Corrupt Practices) Act, 1884, s. 2, and Sched. 3, Part I., post. The punishment for personation is now prescribed by the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act, 1883 (46 & 47 Vict. c. 51), s. 6, which is applied to municipal elections by the Act of 1884, s. 2, above referred to. If a man applies for a ballot paper in a name which is not his own name but is the name under which he is registered and which was intended to designate him and no other person, he does not commit the offence of personation. R. v. Fox, 16 Cox C. C. 166. Nor does a man who applies for a ballot paper honestly believing that he is entitled to vote. Gloucester Election Petition, 2 O'M. & H. 62; Athlone Election Petition, 3 O'M. & H. 57; Isaacson v. Durant, 54 L. T. (N.s.) 684; 4 O'M. & H. 34. "Procuring" is complete if the person procured actually applies for a ballot paper though he never gets it, and "counselling" is complete though the person counselled never even applies for a ballot paper. R. v. Hayne, 9 Cox C. C. 412; S.C. sub. nom. Hayne v. Brown, 22 J. P. 231. It is not necessary to allege in an indictment under this section or to prove at the trial that the presiding officer at the polling station where the offence was committed was duly appointed. R. v. Garvey, 16 Cox C. C. 252. The duty of the returning officer to prosecute is not one which the court can enforce by mandamus. R. v. Preston (Mayor, etc. of). 46 J. P. 324. The provisions of the Registration Acts above referred to are the 6 & 7 Vict. c. 18, ss. 85--89. They are also referred to in the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, s. 86, post, and they are as follows: "85. It shall be lawful for any candidate, at any election of a member or members to serve in Parliament for any county, city, or borough, previous to NOTE. Sect. 24. the time fixed for taking the poll at such election, to nominate and appoint an agent or agents on his behalf to attend at each or any of the booths appointed for taking the poll at such election, for the purpose of detecting personation; and such candidate shall give notice in writing to the returning officer, or his respective deputy, of the name and address of the person or persons so appointed by him to act as agent for such purpose; and thereupon it shall be lawful for every such agent to attend during the time of polling at the booth or booths for which he shall have been so appointed. "86. If at the time any person tenders his vote at such election, or after he has voted, and before he leaves the polling booth, any such agent so appointed as aforesaid shall declare to the returning officer, or his respective deputy, presiding therein, that he verily believes, and undertakes to prove, that the said person so voting is not in fact the person in whose name he assumes to vote, or to the like effect, then and in every such case it shall be lawful for the said returning officer or his said deputy, and he is hereby required, immediately after such person shall have voted, by word of mouth to order any constable or other peace officer to take the said person so voting into his custody, which said order shall be a sufficient warrant and authority to the said constable or peace officer for so doing: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be construed or taken to authorize any returning officer, or his deputy, to reject the vote of any person who shall answer in the affirmative the questions authorized by this Act to be put to him at the time of polling, and shall take the oaths or make the affirmations authorized and required of him; but the said returning officer, or his deputy, shall cause the words, 'protested against for personation,' to be placed against the vote of the person so charged with personation when entered in the poll book. "87. Every such constable or peace officer shall take the person so in his custody, at the earliest convenient time, before some two justices of the peace acting in and for the county, city, or borough within which the said person shall have so voted as aforesaid : Provided always, that in case the attendance of two such justices as aforesaid cannot be procured within the space of three hours after the close of the poll on the same day on which such person shall have been so taken into custody, it shall be lawful for the said constable or peace officer, and he is hereby required, at the request of such person so in his custody, to take him before any one justice of the peace acting as aforesaid, and such justice is hereby authorized and required to liberate such person on his entering into a recognizance, with one sufficient surety, conditioned to appear before any two such justices as aforesaid, at a time and place to be specified in such recognizance, to answer the said charge; and if no such justice shall be found within four hours after the closing of the said poll then such person shall forthwith be discharged from custody: Provided also, that if in consequence of the absence of such justices as aforesaid, or for any other cause, the said charge cannot be inquired into within the time aforesaid, it shall be lawful nevertheless for any two such justices as aforesaid to inquire into the same on the next or on some other subsequent day, and, if necessary, to issue their warrant for the apprehension of the person so charged. "88. If on the hearing of the said charge the said two justices shall be satisfied, upon the evidence on oath of not less than two credible witnesses, that the said person so brought before them has knowingly personated and falsely assumed to vote in the name of some other person within the meaning of this Act, and is not in fact the person in whose name he voted, then it shall be lawful for the said two justices to commit the said offender to the gaol of the county, city, or borough within which the offence was committed, to take his trial according to law, and to bind over the witnesses in their respective recognizances to appear and give evidence on such trial as in the case of other misdemeanors. "89. If the said justices shall, on the hearing of the said charge, be satisfied that the said person so charged with personation is really and in truth the person in whose name he voted, and that the charge of personation has been made against him without reasonable or just cause, or if the agent so declaring as aforesaid, or some one on his behalf, shall not appear to support such charge before the said justices, then it shall be lawful for the said justices, and they are hereby required, to make an order in writing under their hands, on the said agent so declaring as aforesaid, to pay to the said person so falsely charged, if he shall consent to accept the same, any sum not exceeding the sum of ten pounds nor less than five pounds, by way of damages and costs; and if the said sum shall not be paid within twenty-four hours after such order shall have been made, then the same shall be levied, by warrant under the hand and seal of any justice of the peace acting as aforesaid, by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the said agent; and in case no sufficient goods or chattels of the said agent can be found on which such levy can be made, then the same shall be levied in like manner on the goods and chattels of the candidate by whom such agent was so appointed to act; and in case the said sum shall not be paid or levied in the manner aforesaid, then it shall be lawful for the said person to whom the said sum of money was so ordered to be paid to recover the same from the said agent or candidate, with full costs of suit, in an action of debt to be brought in any one of Her Majesty's Superior Courts of Record at Westminster: Provided always, that if the person so falsely charged shall have declared to the said justices his consent to accept such sum as aforesaid by way of damages and costs, and if the whole amount of the sum so ordered to be paid shall have been paid or tendered to such person, in every such case, but not otherwise, the said agent, candidate, and every other person shall be released from all actions or other proceedings, civil or criminal, for or in respect of the said charge and apprehension." Sect. 24. NOTE. schedules. 28. The schedules to this Act, and the notes thereto, and Effect of directions therein, shall be construed and have effect as part of this Act. 29. In this Act The expression "municipal borough" means any place for the Definitions. "Municipal time being subject to the Municipal Corporation Acts, or borough.' any of them: The expression" Municipal Corporation Acts" means "Municipal Corporation (a.) As regards England, the Act of the session of the Acts." fifth and sixth years of the reign of King William * Sect. 29. "Municipal election. Application of Act. Short title. The expression "municipal election " means (a.) As regards England, an election of any person to serve the office of councillor, auditor, or assessor of any municipal borough, or of councillor for a ward of a municipal borough; and Those portions of the above section which relate to Scotland and Ireland only have been omitted. The reference to the 5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 76, must be read as a reference to the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882; see s. 242 of the latter Act, post. The expression "municipal election," as used in this Act, includes the election of a county councillor. 30. This Act shall apply to any parliamentary or municipal election which may be held after the passing thereof. 33. This Act may be cited as the Ballot Act, 1872, and shall continue in force till the thirty-first day of December one thousand eight hundred and eighty, and no longer, unless Parliament shall otherwise determine; and on the said day the Acts in the fourth, fifth, and sixth schedules shall be thereupon revived; provided that such revival shall not affect any act done, any rights acquired, any liability or penalty incurred, or any proceeding pending under this Act, but such proceeding shall be carried on as if this Act had continued in force. The Ballot Act is continued in force from year to year, and is now in force by virtue of the Expiring Laws Continuance Act, 1897. 15. At every polling place the returning officer shall provide a sufficient number of polling stations for the accommodation of the electors entitled to vote at such polling place, and shall distribute the polling stations amongst those electors in such manner as he thinks most convenient, provided that in a district borough there shall be at least one polling station at each contributory place of such borough. At an election of county councillors this duty will devolve on the returning officer. See the Local Government Act, 1888, s. 75, sub-s. (4), ante, and the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, Sched. 3, Part III. r. 3, post. Rule 16 does not apply to municipal elections or elections of county councillors. See the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, Sched. 3, Part III. r. 1, ante. * * * * * 17. A separate room or separate booth may contain a separate polling station, or several polling stations may be constructed in the same room or booth. 18. No person shall be admitted to vote at any polling station except the Schedule 1. one allotted to him. As to the duty of the returning officer to give notice of the description of persons entitled to vote at each polling station, see the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, Sched. 3, Part III. r. 2. Rule 19 does not apply to municipal elections or to elections of county councitors. See the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, Sched. 3, Part III. r. 1, post. 20. The returning officer shall provide each polling station with materials for voters to mark the ballot papers, with instruments for stamping thereon the official mark, and with copies of the register of voters, or such part thereof as contains the names of the voters allotted to vote at such station. He shall keep the official mark secret, and an interval of not less than seven years shall intervene between the use of the same official mark at elections for the same county or borough. As to the duty of the returning officer at an election of county councillors to provide the things mentioned in the above rule, see the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, Sched. 3, Part III. r. 1, ante. 21. The returning officer shall appoint a presiding officer to preside at each station, and the officer so appointed shall keep order at his station, shall regulate the number of electors to be admitted at a time, and shall exclude all other persons except the clerks, the agents of the candidates, and the constables on duty. The candidates cannot be excluded. See Clementson v. Mason, cited in the note to s. 9, ante. 22. Every ballot paper shall contain a list of the candidates described as in their respective nomination papers, and arranged alphabetically in the order of their surnames, and (if there are two or more candidates with the same surname) of their other names: it shall be in the form set forth in the Second Schedule to this Act or as near thereto as circumstances admit, and shall be capable of being folded up. See the form in the Second Schedule, post. 23. Every ballot box shall be so constructed that the ballot papers can be introduced therein, but cannot be withdrawn therefrom, without the box being unlocked. The presiding officer at any polling station, just before the commencement of the poll, shall show the ballot box empty to such persons, if any, as may be present in such station, so that they may see that it is empty, and shall then lock it up, and place his seal upon it in such manner as to prevent its being opened without breaking such seal, and shall place it in his view for the receipt of ballot papers, and keep it so locked and sealed. 24. Immediately before a ballot paper is delivered to an elector, it shall be marked on both sides with the official mark, either stamped or perforated, and the number, name, and description of the elector as stated in the copy of the register shall be called out, and the number of such elector shall be marked on the counterfoil, and a mark shall be placed in the register against the number of the elector, to denote that he has received a ballot paper, but without showing the particular ballot paper which he has received. A ballot paper not marked with the official mark is void. and the notes thereto. See r. 36, post, It is the duty of the presiding officer to see that the official mark is put on the paper. See Pickering v. James, and Ackers v. Howard, ante, p. 213. RULE 18. |