APPENDIX 1
Memorandum by the Home Office
INQUIRY INTO ELECTORAL LAW AND ADMINISTRATION
Introduction
1.1 This memorandum describes the current legislation
governing electoral law and administration at parliamentary, European
Parliamentary and local elections. It also sets out where appropriate
the related procedures for carrying out the annual compilation
of the electoral registers and for the conduct of elections at
all levels.
1.2 The Committee will be aware that there are
a considerable number of reviews currently underway into a number
of different aspects of electoral law and administration. These
include the review of the voting system being undertaken by an
Independent Commission chaired by Lord Jenkins of Hillhead and
the examination of aspects of political party funding and expenditure,
including expenditure by candidates, which the Government has
asked the Committee on Standards in Public Life under Lord Neill
of Bladen to conduct.
1.3 More directly applicable to this Inquiry,
a Home Office Working Party on Electoral Procedures is currently
examining all aspects of electoral practice, excepting consideration
of the case for compulsory voting and of the introduction of proportional
representation voting systems. The work of the Working Party complements
a consultation exercise which has been mounted by the Local Government
Sponsorship Department of the Department of the Environment, Transport
and the Regions, which includes consideration of aspects of local
elections law and practice.
1.4 The responses to the DETR consultation exercise
will be considered by the Home Office Working Party on Electoral
Procedures within its broader review of electoral practice. The
Working Party, which is chaired by Mr George Howarth, Home Office
Minister with responsibility for electoral matters, has previously
made available to the Committee all of the papers which have been
prepared to date for consideration by the Working Party, including
notes of the Working Party's meetings. For ease of reference,
however, the Working Party's terms of reference are again provided
as Annex A to this memorandum. The outline programme of work agreed
by the Working Party at its first meeting on 21 January 1998 is
also attached (Annex B).
1.5 The programme of work at Annex B is very
full and comprehensive. The present expectation is that the Working
Party will meet every 6-8 weeks to consider papers prepared by
the Home Office, electoral administrators, and others. Five papers
have been considered in the two meetings held to date, including
an agenda and operating procedures paper, two papers on rolling
registration, a paper on access to electoral processes for disabled
citizens and a paper on electoral forms and equipment. The agreed
programme at Annex B will, we estimate, require the Working Party
to continue to meet until at least Easter 1999.
1.6 The programme agreed by the Working Party
includes the greatest part of the issues which the Committee has
listed as falling within the consideration of this Inquiry. As
these are issues which the Working Party has been specifically
established to examine, it would not be appropriate for this memorandum
to propose in advance of the Working Party's detailed examination
possible reforms in specific areas for the Committee to consider.
1.7 This memorandum is therefore restricted to
setting out statements of the existing legislation and procedures,
together with statistical data where this is available and indications
of issues of concern as to electoral law or practice which have
been drawn to our attention by members of the public, electoral
administrators, parliamentarians and others with a direct interest
in the delivery of electoral services.
1.8 The memorandum is set out in 10 parts:
A the statutory background
B the franchise
C electoral registration issues
D absent voting arrangements
E the voting timetable
F polling station issues
G candidate issues
H the conduct of the poll
J after the poll
K electoral commission
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