Elections - 1970- 1979

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This page lists 8 cases, and was prepared on 28 October 2012.

McWhirter -v- Platten [1970] 1 QB 508
1970 QBD	Elections, Crime	Casemap 1 Citers
	An order was made for the inspection of uncounted ballot papers before the institution of a prosecution under the Act, on the ground that the offenders, and the nature of offences could not be ascertained until the ballot papers had been inspected.
	Representation of the People Act 1983

Levers -v- Morris [1972] 1 QB 221
1972 QBD	Elections	Casemap 1 Citers
	The court drew a lot to decide the outcome of a drawn election.
	Representation of the People Act 1949 37(1)

Attorney-General, ex rel McWhirter -v- Independent Broadcasting Authority [1973] 1 QB 629 CA
1973 CA Lord Denning MR	Media, Elections	Casemap 1 Citers
	The court should not interfere in decisions made by broadcasting companies allocating television time to parties before elections unless it is of the view that they were irrational in not giving enough weight to those matters in allocating it only one broadcast.

Morgan-v- Simpson [1975] QB 151
1975 CA	Elections	Casemap 1 Citers
	Representation of the People Act 1949 37(1)

Fairbairn -v- Scottish National Party (1979) SC 393
1979 Lord Ross	Elections, Scotland	Casemap 1 Cites 1 Citers
	Lord Ross held that a statement made during the course of an election campaign, which suggested that the pursuer (a member of parliament) did not collect his constituency mail from the House of Commons Post office was an attack on his character as a political representative but did not amount to an attack on his honour, veracity or purity. He rejected a claim of electoral malpractice, and said: "that every false statement in relation to thee public character of a candidate may in one sense reflect upon the candidate's personal character, but before there can be an illegal practice in terms of the statute, the false statement of fact must be directly related to the personal character of conduct of the candidate."

X -v- United Kingdom (1979) 15 DR 137
1979 ECHR	Human Rights, Elections	Casemap 1 Citers
	(Commission) The claimant sought admission of her complaint that being employed by the European Commission and resident in Belgium she had lost her right to vote. She contrasted her position with that of members of the armed forces and members of diplomatic missions who retained their votes though overseas. Held: The complaint was inadmissible. The comparators remained in the employment of the UK government and were sent overseas under compulsion. The discrimination was justified. They were resident-citizens, in contrast to the applicant who was living abroad voluntarily.

McWhirter and Wilson -v- Independent Television Authority [1979] SC 351
1979 OHCS	Media, Scotland, Elections, Judicial Review
	The Independent Broadcasting Authority in the exercise of its powers under the Act were susceptible to judicial review.
	Television Act 1964

Wilson -v- Independent Broadcasting Authority [1979] SC 351 OH; [1979] SLT 279
1979 OHCS Lord Ross	Elections, Media, Scotland	Casemap 1 Citers
	In the lead up to the Scottish referendum on Devolution, the Authority required the broadcasters to carry party political broadcasts for each of the four main parties. Three parties favoured voting yes in the referendum, and the authority was injuncted by those opposing the Yes campaign. Held: The injunction was set aside. The Act required the Authority to maintain a balance of approximately for each case. The court considered how the broadcasting media should achieve balance during elections. Lord Ross said: "I see no reason in principle why an individual should not sue in order to prevent a breach by a public body of a duty owed by that public body to the public. It may well be that the Lord Advocate could be a petitioner if the interests of the public as a whole were affected..., but I see no reason why an individual should not sue provided always that the individual can qualify an interest. Having considered the petitioners' averments, I am of the opinion that the petitioners have averred sufficient interest. (1) They are voters and the Referendum gives them the choice to say 'Yes' or 'No'. (2) They belong to an organisation or group who apparently believe that the question should be answered 'No'. (3) It is implicit in the name of the organisation or group that the petitioners wish to persuade other voters to vote 'No'. It is plain from the petition and the answers that the petitioners and the political parties believe that the programmes are likely to be influential upon the electorate in Scotland, and if that is so, the petitioners have an interest to see that the respondents do not act in breach of any statutory duties in relation to such programmes."
	Broadcasting Act 1990