The Parliamentary Elections Act 1770 (also known as the Grenville Act) is an Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 of the Parliament of Great Britain

Parliament of Great Britain

The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...

 (10 Geo III c. 16). The Act transferred the power of trying election petition

Election petition

An election petition refers to the procedure for challenging the result of a Parliamentary election or local government election in the United Kingdom and in Hong Kong.- Outcomes :...

s from the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 to the Judiciary

Judiciary of England and Wales

There are various levels of judiciary in England and Wales — different types of courts have different styles of judges. They also form a strict hierarchy of importance, in line with the order of the courts in which they sit, so that judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales are generally...

. All contested elections were to be considered by a committee of thirteen members selected by ballot. The Act was initially limited to one year, but was extended several times. A bill was passed in 1774 to make it perpetual — by that time five cases had already been tried.

This Act was repealed by section 1 of the Controverted Elections Act 1828 (9 Geo. IV c. 22).