The Elections Act provides for enforcement of the digital imprints regime by way of an offence under section 48(1) where an imprint is not included when required..
Whether it is the police or the Electoral Commission that is initially responsible depends on the purpose of the material in question, as set out in section 50. Where there is uncertainty in a particular case as to which body is responsible for enforcement, this will be resolved between the enforcement bodies on a case by case basis.
Political material (paid adverts) and election material (organic material)
The police will enforce material which relates to:
a particular candidate
a particular future candidate
a particular elected office-holder
The Electoral Commission will enforce material which relates to:
political parties
categories of parties, candidates, future candidates and/or elected office-holders including categories based on:
their support for or against particular policies
their holding particular opinions
any other reason
Recall petition material
This will be enforced by the police, both for paid adverts and organic material.
Material relating to referendums
Any digital material, both for paid adverts and organic material, will be enforced by the Electoral Commission if it both:
relates to a referendum held under Part 7 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (is a PPERA referendum)
is published during the referendum period
Any other material relating to a referendum will be enforced by the police.
This material will all be paid adverts, and includes any paid advert which either:
relates to a referendum which is not a PPERA referendum
relates to a referendum which is a PPERA referendum, but which is published before the referendum period