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3. REFERENDUM ARRANGEMENTS
11. This chapter deals with the electorate and the practical arrangements for holding the referendum; casting votes; counting them; and announcing the result.
Electorate
12. In the Government's view the electorate should include those on the current Parliamentary election register which came into force earlier this month, together with peers (who are registered for local government elec- tions but cannot vote in Parliamentary elections).
Responsibility for local conduct of the Poll
13. There are some differences in the electoral arrangements for various purposes in different parts of the United Kingdom. For the referendum the Government have concluded that the most satisfactory administrative arrangement will be to place the responsibility for polling arrangements (other than counting votes) in England and Wales on the returning officers for district council and London borough elections, in Scotland on the returning officers for regional and islands area authority elections and in Northern Ireland on the Chief Electoral Officer.
Absent Voting
14. The Government propose to ensure that the postal and proxy voting facilities which are available for general elections are also available for the referendum poll. Special steps will be taken to advertise these facilities, and it is hoped that those eligible for absent votes who are not already registered for them will apply now in order to reduce the burden on those who will be organising the physical arrangements for the poll.
Poll Cards
15. Poll cards are not an indispensible part of the electoral procedure but they serve a useful purpose. They remind the elector of his right to vote and they tell him his voting number and where his polling station is. It is hoped that poll cards can be produced in time for the referendum poll, but this turns on the availability of materials and technical factors which are being explored.
Polling
16. Polling will be in the normal way. From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the appointed day voters will go to the local polling stations, which will be those used for general elections. They will receive a ballot paper from the presiding officer; enter a booth; mark the paper in one of two clearly marked places; and put it, folded, into the ballot box.
Independent scrutiny
17. The absence of any candidates or their election or polling agents will
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