81. The Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 introduced modifications in the Representation of the People Act 1985 (Sections 5-11 and Schedule 2), that have effects in the case of absent voting (by post or by proxy) only in parliamentary elections in Northern Ireland.[41] An elector is entitled to vote by post if he/she appears on the absent voters list for the election. In this situation, he/she is eligible for an absent vote for an indefinite period or for a particular election. The eligibility depends on two types of requirements: that the elector is or will be registered as service voter or that he/she cannot be reasonably expected to go to the polling station for one of the circumstances contemplated by the law (blindness or physical incapacity, nature of his/her occupation, and sea or air travellers, etc.). The system of ‘postal voting on demand’ was not extended to Northern Ireland.
