Representation of the People Act 2009

2, 3 & 4 Max. c. 10

An Act to make provision for the election of Members of Parliament by the single transferable vote system; to provide for the use of electronic voting for that purpose; and for related purposes.

[28 May 2009]

Whereas experience has shown that the practice of direct democracy is not feasible among a large population; and whereas great inconveniences to the state and government of this Kingdom have resulted thereby; and whereas it is desired that the people of this Kingdom be fairly and proportionably represented in the Parliament; and whereas it is desired to utilize appropriate technologies to facilitate the election of Members of Parliament:

Be it therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

(1) Upon the dissolution of a Parliament, the Sovereign shall issue a writ of election, and a general election of Members of Parliament shall be held on the day specified thereby; but that day shall not be earlier than seven days nor later than twenty-one days after the dissolution.

(2) Every citizen of the Kingdom of Æfira, being neither the Sovereign nor a Lord of Parliament, is entitled to cast one ballot in every general election.

(3) The number of Members of Parliament elected in every general election shall be equal to the nearest integer to three halves of the number of eligible electors voting in that election raised to the power of two thirds; but in no case shall the number exceed two hundred.

(1) Whenever the seat of a Member of Parliament shall fall vacant during the continuance of a Parliament, the Sovereign shall issue a writ of election, and a by-election of one Member of Parliament shall be held on the day specified thereby; but that day shall not be earlier than seven days nor later than twenty-one days after the vacancy.

(2) Every citizen of the Kingdom of Æfira, being neither the Sovereign nor a Lord of Parliament, and having cast a ballot in the previous general election, all or part of the value of which was ultimately assigned to the departing Member, is entitled to cast one ballot in every by-election.

3. Every eligible elector, excepting one under sentence or subject to be sentenced for a criminal offense, or holding office as a judge or justice, is eligible to be a Member of Parliament.

(1) The Secretary of State for Elections shall be responsible for the management and oversight of every election of Members of Parliament.

(2) Whenever the office of the Secretary of State shall be vacant, and no Deputy Secretary of State shall have been appointed, the responsibility aforementioned shall devolve to the Lord Chief Justice, and all references in this Act to the Secretary of State shall be construed accordingly.

(3) The Secretary of State shall make every reasonable effort to ensure that all eligible electors are aware of and able to vote in every election of Members of Parliament.

(4) On the day after every election of Members of Parliament, the Secretary of State shall announce the results of the election in the presence of the Clerk of the House of Commons, and the Sovereign shall issue writs of summons to the Members of Parliament thereby elected.

5. Upon the entry into force of this Act, the seats of the Members of Parliament then existing shall fall vacant, and the Sovereign shall promptly issue a writ of election, and a general election shall be held, and the Sovereign shall issue writs of summons to the Members of Parliament thereby elected; but no prorogation or dissolution of Parliament shall ensue.

(1) Voting in every election of Members of Parliament shall be by single transferable vote.

(2) A valid ballot shall consist of a list of one or more eligible candidates, ranked in order of an elector’s preference, with “1” denoting the elector’s first preference, “2” denoting the elector’s second preference, and so forth.

7. Ballots cast in a general election shall be counted in the following manner:

(1) The quota shall be equal to the number of valid ballots cast divided by one more than the number of Members of Parliament to be elected.

(2) Each ballot shall be assigned a value of one.

(3) Each candidate’s total vote shall be equal to the sum of the values of all ballots on which he or she is the first-preference candidate (disregarding any preference for any person who is no longer a candidate).

(4) If the number of candidates is equal to the number of Members of Parliament yet to be elected, then all remaining candidates shall be elected.

(5) Otherwise, if any candidate’s total vote exceeds the quota,

(i) he or she shall be elected, and shall no longer be a candidate;

(ii) his or her excess vote shall be equal to the difference between his or her total vote and the quota;

(iii) his or her transfer value shall be equal to his or her excess vote divided by his or her total vote; and

(iv) the value of each ballot on which he or she is the first-preference candidate (disregarding any preference for any person who is no longer a candidate) shall be multiplied by his or her transfer value.

(6) Otherwise,

(i) each candidate’s ranking shall be equal to the sum of the values of all ballots on which he or she is a candidate, divided by the sum of his or her ranks on those ballots (disregarding any preference for any person who is no longer a candidate); and

(ii) the candidate with the lowest ranking shall no longer be a candidate; or, if two or more candidates share the lowest ranking, one of them selected randomly shall no longer be a candidate.

(7) Steps (3) through (7) shall be repeated until the requisite number of Members of Parliament has been elected.

8. Ballots cast in a by-election shall be counted in the following manner:

(1) The quota shall be equal to the number of valid ballots cast divided by two.

(2) Each ballot shall be assigned a value equal to the part of the value of the ballot cast by the elector in the previous general election which was ultimately assigned to the departing Member.

(4) If there is only one candidate, then he or she shall be elected.

(5) Otherwise, if any candidate’s total vote exceeds the quota, he or she shall be elected.

(6) Otherwise,

(ii) the candidate with the lowest ranking shall no longer be a candidate; or, if two or more candidates share the lowest ranking, one of them selected randomly shall no longer be a candidate.

(7) Steps (3) through (7) shall be repeated until one Member of Parliament has been elected.

(1) Notwithstanding anything in section 7 or 8, no person shall ever be elected in any election who was not ranked on any ballot in that election.

(2) If the number of candidates in a general election is less than the number of Members of Parliament to be elected in that election, the election shall be void, and the Sovereign shall issue a new writ of election.

10.

(1) Voting in every election of Members of Parliament shall be conducted electronically.

(2) The Secretary of State shall provide an internet-based facility whereby votes can be cast and counted.

(3) The facility shall be used for the conduct of every election of Members of Parliament.

11.

(1) The Secretary of State shall make every reasonable effort to ensure that the facility is accessible to all eligible electors.

(2) If the Secretary of State is made aware that the facility is not accessible to any eligible elector, he shall provide for an alternative means by which that person may vote.

(3) The Secretary of State shall publicize the internet address of the facility, and shall make every reasonable effort to ensure that all eligible electors are aware of the address, and shall give all eligible electors at least ten days’ notice of any change in the address.

(4) The Secretary of State shall implement such measures as he sees fit to ensure the security of the facility. These measures shall include the use of passwords.

(5) The Secretary of State shall implement such measures as he sees fit to ensure that no person may vote more than once in any election of Members of Parliament, and that no vote is personally identifiable.

12.

(1) Upon casting a ballot in any general election, each elector shall be assigned an arbitrary and unique alphanumeric code of not fewer than thirty-two characters.

(2) For purposes of determining the eligibility of an elector in any by-election, the possession by an individual of the ballot code associated with a particular ballot shall be conclusive evidence of that individual’s having cast that ballot.

13.

(1) The passwords and ballot codes aforementioned, and the records of the votes cast in every election of Members of Parliament, and of the part of the value of each ultimately assigned to each candidate, shall be maintained in an electronic database. The Secretary of State shall implement such measures as he sees fit to ensure the security of this database.

(2) If the Secretary of State shall declare in writing, prior to the computation and announcement of the results of any election of Members of Parliament, that in his judgement there is substantial reason to believe that the security of the database may have been compromised and the results of the election impacted thereby, the election shall be void, and the Sovereign shall issue a new writ of election.

14. No computer code pertaining to the facility is exempted under part VI of the Freedom of Information Act 2008, nor may it be classified under part V of that Act.

15.

(1) Sections 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12 of the Parliament Act 2008 are repealed, and shall henceforth be of no force and effect.

(2) The Parliament Act (Amendment) Act 2008 is repealed, and shall henceforth be of no force and effect.

16. In this Act:

(1) “eligible elector” refers to any person entitled to vote in a general election under subsection 1(2);

(2) “eligible elector”, with respect to any election, refers to any person entitled to vote in that election under subsection 1(2) or 2(2);

(3) “elector”, with respect to any election, refers to any eligible elector casting a valid ballot in that election;

(4) “eligible candidate” refers to any person eligible to be a Member of Parliament under section 3;

(5) “candidate”, with respect to any election, refers to any eligible candidate having been ranked on one or more valid ballots cast in that election;

(6) “departing Member”, with respect to a by-election, refers to the Member of Parliament whose seat fell vacant and thereby necessitated the election;

(7) “the facility” refers to the internet-based facility described in subsection 10(2); and

(8) “ballot code” refers to the alphanumeric code described in section 12(1).

17. This Act may be cited as the Representation of the People Act 2009.