Page:Parliamentary Elections (COVID-19 Special Arrangements) Act 2020.pdf/5

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6
NO. 21 OF 2020


Quarantined elector, etc., not voting is excused

3.—(1) Subsection (2) applies to an elector who, on the polling day of an election in an electoral division, is subject to—

(a) a COVID-19 quarantine order; or
(b) a requirement under the Stay Order Regulations to go to and not leave his or her place of accommodation but not because of a COVID-19 stay order to not leave a boarding premises.

(2) If an elector mentioned in subsection (1) does not record his or her vote at an election in an electoral division, he or she—

(a) must be treated under section 43(8) of the Parliamentary Elections Act as having a good and sufficient reason for not recording his or her vote at the election; and
(b) is entitled to have his or her name restored to the relevant register of electors without penalty, and without application in the case of an elector subject to a COVID-19 quarantine order or COVID-19 stay order, after the Registration Officer gives notice in the Gazette under section 43(6) of that Act after that election.

(3) In any proceedings for an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act against an elector mentioned in subsection (1)(a) for—

(a) failing to proceed to the place in which he or she is to be isolated within the time specified in the COVID-19 quarantine order;
(b) leaving or attempting to leave the place in which he or she is being isolated; or
(c) failing to comply with any condition to which he or she is subject,

it is not a reasonable excuse or other defence that the act or omission constituting the offence was committed for the purpose of voting at an election.

(4) In any proceedings for an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act against an elector mentioned in subsection (1)(b) for or in