The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has agreed to
the following Special Report:
We have received the following letter from the Secretary
of State for Northern Ireland to the Chairman of the Committee
which is the initial Response by the Government to the Committee's
Second Report of the current session: "Electoral Malpractice
in Northern Ireland."
I have now had the opportunity to read the Northern Ireland
Affairs Committee's Report on Electoral Malpractice in Northern
Ireland in depth. I would like to take this opportunity to thank
you and the members of the Committee for your obvious hard work
and diligence in this area and to respond to some of the points
raised.
As you know, in July of last year I established my own Review
of electoral procedures in Northern Ireland and it will shortly
complete its deliberations. Whilst I am not able to give any firm
commitment to change until I consider that report I am happy to
give my initial response to some of the various issues addressed
in your report, and I will provide you with a more substantive
reply in the light of my own Review—probably in mid-August.
I was encouraged to note that on many points your findings
correspond with the initial conclusions of my own Review Team.
In particular, the proposal for some form of electoral facilitating
card. As you are aware, my Review's Interim Report provisionally
approved of this measure subject to further research, and there
has been considerable support shown for such an initiative by
both yourselves and the parties. It now appears to be the most
popular (if also the most radical) of the possible initiatives
suggested so far. As such, I am putting every effort into researching
all of the ramifications and consequences of this option.
Likewise, the Committee's endorsement of the Chief Electoral
Officer's proposal for a central registry of signatures is also
one which I agree needs further consideration. Our preliminary
research has suggested that such a scheme could have a positive
impact on all stages of the electoral process from registration,
to absent vote applications through to polling day itself. We
are seriously exploring all the implications of this suggestion.
On those points dealing with the finer details of current
electoral procedure, I also note that we are in some agreement
over the apparent need for more personal identifiers on application
and registration forms and a more formalised liaison between the
CEO and planning and housing authorities. Likewise, we are looking
into the regulations regarding attestations of AV applications
and the use of information provided by the Registrar of Births,
Marriages and Deaths.
Your Report also made suggestions which the Review up until
now had not covered but is now considering. For example, that
the number of bedrooms at each address be included on the household
registration form and that those who register more than once should
have to indicate that they are doing so and where their other
registered addresses are.
Although I do see potential problems associated with the
introduction of a rolling register—accommodation of the
three month residency qualification in particular—I take
your point that it could provide a useful degree of flexibility.
Therefore, acting on the Committee's recommendation that this
proposal should receive serious consideration, the Review Team
are exploring all the possible applications of such a scheme and
a full analysis of their findings will be contained in their Final
Report.
I have noted the Committee's doubts regarding the electoral
register, and the Election Review Team's Interim Report also noted
that some irregularities occur. However, Northern Ireland does
have an impressive registration system with a very high percentage
of the register being compiled by door-to-door canvassing; this
contrasts with the rest of the United Kingdom where registrations
are almost entirely a postal process. Nevertheless, I take your
concerns seriously and will ensure that this is fully investigated
in the Election Review and that all the available evidence is
reassessed. Again, I will be expecting a full analysis of the
accuracy of the register and proposals for its improvement in
the final Report.
It is a shame that, like my own Review, the Committee found
both the quantity and quality of the available evidence disappointing.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to base firm conclusions on anecdotal
and circumstantial information which does not allow an adequate
quantification of the apparent problems existing in present procedures.
Nevertheless, we share a very real desire to ensure that the system
which operates in Northern Ireland is one in which the electorate
can have complete confidence. This requires a commitment to the
prevention of malpractice—real or perceived—and this
is the commitment I have made.
However, I want to stress the importance of not going so
far down the line of tightening up the system that we in fact
discourage or even disfranchise those who are legally entitled
to vote. I do not believe that in pursuit of a totally fraud proof
system we should risk losing legitimate electors. A balance needs
to be struck between a system which prevents abuse but is also
accessible to all those who wish to exercise their right to participate
in the electoral process. I will be assessing the merit of all
proposals made by my own Review Team and also by the Northern
Ireland Affairs Committee on the basis of this balance.
Although it has not been possible for me to give any firm
commitment to the introduction of specific proposals at this time,
this should not in any way indicate that I do not take the issue
of electoral malpractice in Northern Ireland seriously, or that
I am not committed to introducing measures which will get to the
very roots of the problem. However, I am not prepared to rush
in and make changes without making every effort to properly research
and understand the problems which exist. Once my Review is complete
I hope to be in possession of all the available facts on this
subject which, combined with the findings of your own Report,
will make it possible for me to formulate a package of initiatives
which will enable Northern Ireland to have an electoral system
in which the electorate can be proud and can have complete confidence.
The Elections Review will be submitting its final report
in the summer, and I am intending to publish its findings at the
earliest possible opportunity. However as you acknowledged in
your Report, it is unlikely that any substantial changes
will be in place much before the elections to the European Parliament
in 1999. Nevertheless, I intend to have more minor changes introduced
as early as becomes practicable. I also have to have regard to
the current deliberations of the Home Secretary's Working Party
on electoral procedures, of which my own officials and the Chief
Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland are members. Furthermore,
once the Review is complete, I will continue to listen to suggestions
from all quarters on how the system could be further improved
and welcome your continued interest in this issue.
29 May 1998
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