## Facts

- An election was held for guardians of the poor for the township of Bradford.
- J. Marston’s name appeared on the rate book, but Marston had died before the election.
- A voting paper purportedly signed by Marston was delivered to the official collecting voting papers.
- Whiteley was charged under 14 & 15 Vict. c. 105, § 3 with willfully and fraudulently personating “a person entitled to vote” by using Marston’s apparent vote.
- A magistrate convicted Whiteley, and the matter came to the Queen’s Bench on a case stated to determine whether the conviction was legally correct on the found facts.

## Issues

1. Whether impersonating a deceased person satisfies the statutory element of personating “any person entitled to vote” under 14 & 15 Vict. c. 105, § 3.
2. Whether the court should construe the penal provision strictly according to its text, even if that excludes conduct that is plainly fraudulent.

## Decision

- The Queen’s Bench quashed the conviction.
- The court held that a deceased person is not “a person entitled to vote” at the time of the election.
- Because the statute required personation of a person actually entitled to vote, the offence was not made out on the stated facts.

## Legal Principles

- Under a penal statute criminalizing personation of “any person entitled to vote,” the prosecution must prove the impersonated person was, at the relevant time, legally entitled to vote.
- A dead person is not legally “entitled to vote,” even if the person’s name remains on an electoral or rate list.
- Courts apply the plain meaning of clear statutory language in criminal cases and will not extend liability beyond the statute’s terms; if broader coverage is desired, it must be enacted expressly.

## Conclusion

The court applied a strict, literal reading of “person entitled to vote” and set aside the conviction because the impersonated individual was deceased and therefore not legally entitled to vote, notwithstanding the apparent electoral fraud.


Whiteley v. Chappell, L.R. 4 Q.B. 147 (Q.B. 1868)