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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 (a).

(a) The following are the provisions of the English Registration Act, 6 & 7 Vict. c. 18, here referred to :

85. And for the more effectual detection of the personation of voters at elections, be it enacted, that 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 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 agents 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. And be it enacted, that 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. And be it enacted, that 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. And be it enacted, that 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. And be it enacted, that 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

The offence of personation shall be deemed to be a corrupt practice within the meaning of the Parliamentary Elections Act, 1868 (a).

If, on the trial of any election petition questioning the election or return for any county or borough, any candidate is found by the report of the judge by himself or his agents to have been guilty of personation, or by himself or his agents to have aided, abetted, counselled, or procured the commission at such election of 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. (a) With regard to the punishment of corrupt practices, see sects. 43-47 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, 1868.

offence of personation by any person, such candidate shall be incapable of being elected or sitting in parliament for such county or borough during the parliament then in existence (b).

struck off for

undue in

25. Where a candidate, on the trial of an election Vote to be petition claiming the seat for any person, is proved to bribery, have been guilty, by himself or by any person on his treating, or behalf, of bribery, treating, or undue influence in respect fluence. of any person who voted at such election, or where any person retained or employed for reward by or on behalf of such candidate for all or any of the purposes of such election, as agent, clerk, messenger, or in any other employment, is proved on such trial to have voted at such election, there shall, on a scrutiny, be struck off from the number of votes appearing to have been given to such candidate one vote for every person who voted at such election and is proved to have been so bribed, treated, or unduly influenced, or so retained or employed for reward as aforesaid.

26. This part of this Act shall apply to Scotland, Alterations subject to the following provision :

The offence of personation shall be deemed to be a crime and offence, and the rules of the law of Scotland with respect to apprehension, detention, precognition, commitment, and bail shall apply thereto, and any person accused thereof may be brought to trial in the court of justiciary, whether in Edinburgh or on circuit, at the instance of the Lord Advocate, or before the sheriff court, at the instance of the procurator fiscal.

(b) Note that this disqualification applies only to the parliament then in existence. The disqualification resulting from being found guilty of corrupt practices under the Act of 1868, endures for the seven years next after the date of being found guilty.

in Act as applying to Scotland.

Construction of part of Act.

27. This part of this Act, so far as regards parliamentary elections, shall be construed as one with "The Parliamentary Elections Act, 1868," and shall apply to an election for a university or combination of universities (a).

Effect of schedules.

Definitions. "Municipal borough:"

PART IV.

MISCELLANEOUS.

28. The schedules to this Act, and the notes thereto, and 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 time being subject to the Municipal Corporation Acts, or any of them (b):

(a) The universities in England entitled to return members to Parliament, are Oxford, Cambridge, and London. The combination of universities refers to Scotland.

(b) The following is a list of municipal boroughs in England under the 5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 76, corrected to the present

time:

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