Local Government Act 1993

If a voter records a vote on a ballot-paper by placing a mark in a group voting square but also indicates preferences for individual candidates, the following provisions apply—

if the indication of preferences for individual candidates would, if it stood alone, constitute a formal vote, that indication of preferences is taken to be the vote of the voter and the mark in the group voting square is to be disregarded,

if the indication of preferences for individual candidates would not, if it stood alone, constitute a formal vote, it is to be disregarded and the vote of the voter is to be taken to have been expressed by the mark in the group voting square.

A ballot-paper is not informal by reason only that the voter has recorded a vote by placing a cross or a tick in a group voting square and not placing any mark or writing in any other group voting square, but the ballot-paper is to be treated as if the cross or tick were the number “1”.

A ballot-paper is not informal by reason only that the voter has recorded a vote by placing the number “1” or a tick in a group voting square and placing a cross in (or a line through) all or some of the other group voting squares on the ballot-paper, but the ballot-paper is to be treated as if the marks in those other squares did not appear on the ballot-paper and any such tick were the number “1”.

A ballot-paper on which the voter has recorded a vote by placing in one group voting square the number “1” is not informal by reason only that—

the same preference (other than the first preference) is recorded on the ballot-paper for more than one group, but in that event the ballot-paper is to be treated as if those and any subsequent preferences had not been recorded, or

there is a break in the order of preferences for groups, but in that event the ballot-paper is to be treated as if any preference after the break had not been recorded, or

fewer preferences are recorded than there are candidates to be elected.

The ballot-papers for an election are not informal by reason only that they contain the name of a candidate whom a court has declared to be incapable of being elected at that election, but a preference for such a candidate (whether individually or as a member of a group) is to be disregarded, and (if necessary) subsequent preferences are to be renumbered accordingly.