copy of the relevant constituency voters roll at no cost to the candidate. Furthermore, the Chief Elections Officer is obliged (through the relevant constituency elections officer) to provide sufficient copies of the ward voters roll to every polling station. • There is an obligation that where the voters roll is provided in electronic form, it must be in such a format that allows its contents to be searched and analysed. In addition, the electronic voters’ roll must be secured against alteration or tampering. The Commission has the power to control its use for commercial or other purposes unconnected with an election. This is a new clause where previously, the requirement to do so had not been explicitly stated. • The penalties for anyone tampering with or commercially exploiting any voters rolls provided to them by Commission is also increased from a fine of level 6 and imprisonment for one year to a fine of level 10 and imprisonment for 5 years. Clearly the purpose of this is to safeguard the integrity of the voters roll. Analysis • The requirement to make the voters rolls available to political parties, candidates and members of the public in searchable and analysable electronic form is a welcome development as it promotes transparency in the election process. It is in step with modern forms of data handling and communication. • However, whilst there is a requirement to provide a constituency voters roll to candidates, it is not clear why the relevant ward voters rolls are not captured in the same provision. Subsection (8) only requires that sufficient copies of the ward voters roll be available at the polling station. There is no good reason why the requirement to provide free copies of the constituency voters roll to candidates does not extend to ward voters rolls, if anything to ensure there is consistency in the provision of voters rolls. Proof of Identity and Residence 3