HL Deb 30 May 1933 vol 87 cc1102-7

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Blanes-burgh.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly:

[The EARL OF ONSLOW in the Chair.]

Clause 1:

Right of blind voter to vote with assistance of friend.

1.—(1) The Ballot Act, 1872, shall have effect as if in. the rules for elections set out in Part I of the First Schedule to that Act, there were inserted after Rule 26 the following rule:—

"26A. Where any voter who is incapacitated by blindness from voting without assistance, and who is accompanied by another person, makes application to the presiding officer to be allowed to vote with the assistance of the person accompanying him (hereinafter referred to as the friend'), the presiding officer, if he is satisfied by a declaration made in accord- ance with this rule that the friend has attained the age of twenty-one years and has not previously assisted more than one person to vote at the election then taking place, shall grant the application, and thereupon anything which is by this Act required to be done to or by the said voter in connection with the giving of his vote, may, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, be done to, or with the assistance of, the friend, as the case may be.

"The said declaration shall be in the form set out in the Second Schedule to this Act, or as near thereto as circumstances admit, and shall be made by the friend in the presence of the presiding officer and he given to that officer and attested by him.

"The name and number on the register of voters of every voter whose vote is given in accordance with this rule, and the name and address of the person assisting him to vote, shall he entered in a list (in this Act referred to as the list of blind voters assisted by other persons').

"Such a declaration as aforesaid shall be exempt from stamp duty, and no fee or other payment shall be charged in respect thereof."

(2) Section four of the Ballot Act, 1877 (which provides for the punishment of persons infringing the secrecy of the ballot in any manner specified therein) shall have effect as if at the end of the first paragraph of that section there were inserted the words "No person, having undertaken to assist a blind voter to vote, shall, without the authority of the blind voter, communicate to any other person any information as to the candidate for whom that voter intends his vote to be given or for whom his vote has been given, or as to the number on the hack of the ballot paper issued at a polling station for the use of that voter."

LORD BLANESBURCHhad a series of Amendments on the Paper to make the proposed Rule 26A read as follows:

"26A. Where any voter who is accompanied by another person makes application to the presiding officer to be allowed on the ground of blindness to vote with the assistance of the person accompanying him (hereinafter referred to as 'the companion'), the presiding officer shall require the voter to declare orally whether he is so incapacitated by his blindness as to be unable to vote without assistance, and if he is satisfied that the voter is so incapacitated and is also satisfied by a written declaration made by the companion in accordance with this rule that the companion is a qualified person within the meaning of this rule and has not previously assisted more than one blind person to vote at the election then taking place, shall grant the application, and thereupon anything which is by this Act required to be done to or by the said voter in connection with the giving of his vote, may, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, be done to, or with the assistance of, the companion, as the case may be.

"For the purposes of this rule, any of the following persons shall be qualified to assist a blind voter to vote at an election, namely, any person who is entitled to vote at that election, and any person who is the father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, son, or daughter of the blind voter, and has attained the age of twenty-one.

"The declaration to be made by the companion for the purposes of this rule shall he in the form set out in the Second Schedule to this Act, or in a form as near thereto as circumstances admit, and shall be made in the presence of, and be given to, the presiding officer, and that officer shall thereupon attest it.

"Any such declaration shall be exempt from stamp duty, and no fee or other payment shall be charged in respect of it.

"The said declaration shall be in the form set out in the Second Schedule to this Act, or as near thereto as circumstances admit, and shall be made by the friend in the presence of the presiding officer and be given to that officer and attested by him.

"The name and number on the register of voters of every voter whose vote is given in accordance with this rule, and the name and address of the companion, shall be entered in a list (in this Act referred to as the list of blind voters assisted by other persons'."

The noble and learned Lord said: The first Amendment on the Paper to Clause 1 is one of a series dealing with the question of the proof of blindness on the part of the voter and does not, I think, affect in any way the principle of the Bill.

Amendment moved— Page 1, line 10, leave out from ("is") to ("accompanied") in line 12.—(Lord Blanesburgh.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLANESBURGH

The next Amendment is another of the series which has the same object. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 1, line 13, at end insert ("on the ground of blindness").—(Lord Blanesburgh.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLANESBURGH

The purpose of the third Amendment to the clause is to extend the quality and character of the person who may assist the blind voter in giving his vote. I move.

Amendment moved— Page 1, line 16, leave out ("friend") and insert ("companion").—(Lord Blanesburgh.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLANESBURGH

The proposal in the next Amendment is to leave out certain words in the clause and insert others which are on the Paper. These words are inserted in order that the blind voter may be required to tender evidence to the presiding officer that he is in fact blind. It will be an arrangement that will facilitate the actual tendering of the vote. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 1, line 16, leave out from ("officer") to ("and") in line 19, and insert ("shall requite the voter to declare orally whether he is so incapacitated by his blindness as to be unable to vote without assistance, and if he is satisfied that the voter is so incapacitated and is also satisfied by a written declaration made by the companion in accordance with this rule that the companion is a qualified person within the meaning of this rule").—(Lord Btanesburgh.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLANES-BURGH

The following Amendment is purely drafting.

Amendment moved— Page 1, line 20, after ("one") insert ("blind").—(Lord Blanesburgh.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLANESBURGH

The next Amendment is consequential upon the alteration already made.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 3, leave out ("friend") and insert ("companion").—(Lord Blanesburgh.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLANESEURGH

In the next Amendment the words proposed to be inserted give a description of the person who may now accompany the voter; the rest of it is purely drafting. I move.

Amendment moved—

Page 2, line 5, leave out lines 5 to 10, and insert: ("For the purposes of this rule, any of the following persons shall be qualified to assist a blind voter to vote at an election, namely, any person who is entitled to vote at that election, and any person who is the father, mother, brother, sister, hus- band, wife, son, or daughter of the blind voter, and has attained the age of twenty-one. The declaration to be made by the companion for the purposes of this rule shall be in the form set out in the Second Schedule to this Act, or in a form as near thereto as circumstances admit, and shall be made in the presence of, and be given to, the presiding officer, and that officer shall thereupon attest it. Any such declaration shall be exempt from stamp duty and no fee or other payment shall be charged in respect of it").—(Lord Blanesburgh.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLANESBURGH

The Amendment which follows is purely consequential.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 14, leave out ("person assisting him to vote") and insert ("companion").—(Lord Blanesburgh.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLANESBURGH

The next is a purely drafting Amendment.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 17, leave out lines 17 to 19.—(Lord Blanesburgh.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLANESBURGHmoved, in subsection (2), to leave out, "without the authority of the blind voter." The noble and learned Lord said: The purpose of this Amendment is that the companion will be precluded in any circumstances whatever from disclosing the vote given. Under the Bill as drafted he might make that disclosure with the authority of the blind voter. That is now prohibited.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 26, leave out ("without the authority of the blind voter").—(Lord Blonesburgh.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 2 [Short title, construction and extent]:

LORD BLANESBURGHmoved, after subsection (1), to insert:

"(2) This Act shall come into operation on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and thirty-four."

The noble and learned Lord said: The reason for the Amendment is this. This Bill is itself an Amendment of the Ballot Act, and it will, if it becomes an Act, have to be consolidated with a Bill which is now passing through Parliament. That Bill will come into force on the first of January, 1934, and this proposal will make this Bill come into force at the same time.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 37, at end, insert the said subsection.—(Lord Blanesburgh.)

THE EARL OF LUCAN

I only wish to say here that these Amendments are practically agreed Amendments. They have been drafted after consultation with the Home Office, by which Department they are entirely approved.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 2, as amended, agreed to.

Schedule:

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