Election candidates are facing new rules for ‘publishing imprints’ so here is some important information for all of them.
This Writer became aware of the issue via a tweet on X by the Workers’ Party candidate for Blackburn, Craig Murray. He wrote:
This response seems the most apt:
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Here’s a tweet by Andrew Feinstein, who is standing as an Independent candidate for Holborn & St Pancras, currently held by Labour leader Keir Starmer – and is also campaigning primarily against the two largest parties’ (Labour and the Conservatives) support for Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Click on his name at the top of the tweet and you’ll see the imprint:
Draft information on what candidates need to do is available here. This Writer hopes that the inclusion of the word “draft” does not mean a future government will change the conditions in order to entrap other parties’ candidates!
I’ve copied the important information and include it below. Scroll down to the bottom for the important information about social media posts [boldings mine]:
When certain campaign material is published, it must contain specific details to show who is responsible for publishing it.
These details are known as an ‘imprint’. The imprint helps to ensure there is transparency for voters about who is campaigning.
There are already UK-wide laws requiring imprints on printed election, referendum and recall petition material, and on digital election material used at Scottish devolved elections. For these laws, please see the Electoral Commission’s non-statutory guidance.
Under the Elections Act 2022, the law requires imprints on some kinds of electronic material. This guidance refers to electronic material as ‘digital material’. Examples of the types of digital material that need an imprint are explained in the guidance.
The digital imprint requirements do not apply to digital material published prior to the commencement of Part 6 of the Act. However if that material is republished once the Act has been commenced, the republished material will become subject to the requirements.
You must include the name and address of:
the promoter
any person on behalf of whom the material is being published (and who is not the promoter)
You must use a postal address where you can be contacted. It can be an office or business address, or a home address. You can also use a PO Box address, or other mailbox service.
The imprint must be in text form, unless it is included as a part of solely audio material. In this case, the imprint must be included as audio material.
The imprint must be legible, or in the case of audio material, audible, no matter what device is used to access the information.
In order to comply with the law, you must ensure that a written imprint is on screen for long enough that it can be read. Similarly, an audio imprint must be read at a speed at which it can be heard and understood.
If digital material which requires an imprint is published without one, the promoter and anyone on whose behalf it has been published may be liable for an offence under section 48 of the Elections Act 2022.
The imprint must be included as a part of the material, unless it is not reasonably practicable to do so.
Whether it is reasonably practicable to include the imprint as part of the material depends on the technical capability of the platform on which the material is published.
It does not depend on, for example, whether including an imprint will affect:
your preferences about the design or appearance of the material
how effective you think the material will be
how much time it will take to publish the material
If the imprint is included as a part of the material, it must be included in such a way that if the material is shared as it is, the imprint will still be a part of it.
For example, if the material is a picture and contains an imprint, then if the picture is shared unaltered, the imprint will still appear.
If it is not reasonably practicable to include the imprint as a part of the material, then the imprint must appear somewhere directly accessible from the material. In practice, this means it can be reached via a direct link, usually one click or equivalent, where both the link and the imprint are easy for a voter to locate.
If the imprint appears somewhere directly accessible from the material, it must be included in such a way that it if the material is shared as it is, the imprint will still be accessible from the shared material.
For example, if the material is a tweet, and the imprint is included in your Twitter bio, then if the material is retweeted, the imprint in your bio will still be accessible from the retweet.
This means that you must not delete the imprint from your bio for as long as an imprint is required and the material remains published. If you were to delete the imprint, then it would no longer be accessible if your material is shared.
Is that all clear? Please share with your preferred local candidate if necessary.
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The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
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Election candidates are facing new rules for publishing ‘imprints’
Election candidates are facing new rules for ‘publishing imprints’ so here is some important information for all of them.
This Writer became aware of the issue via a tweet on X by the Workers’ Party candidate for Blackburn, Craig Murray. He wrote:
This response seems the most apt:
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Here’s a tweet by Andrew Feinstein, who is standing as an Independent candidate for Holborn & St Pancras, currently held by Labour leader Keir Starmer – and is also campaigning primarily against the two largest parties’ (Labour and the Conservatives) support for Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Click on his name at the top of the tweet and you’ll see the imprint:
Draft information on what candidates need to do is available here. This Writer hopes that the inclusion of the word “draft” does not mean a future government will change the conditions in order to entrap other parties’ candidates!
I’ve copied the important information and include it below. Scroll down to the bottom for the important information about social media posts [boldings mine]:
Is that all clear? Please share with your preferred local candidate if necessary.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the right margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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