APPENDIX I
Letter from the Secretary of State for Northern
Ireland to the Chairman of the Committee
I am now able to enclose,
as promised, a full response to the Northern Ireland Affairs Select
Committee report on Electoral Malpractice which was published
in March 1998.
I am very grateful to the
Committee for the thoroughness of its report and the amount of
detail made available to us in both the commentary and recommendations.
It has made an important contribution to our own thinking on this
issue.
As you will know, the consultation
process following the publication of our own review "Administering
Elections in Northern Ireland" was rather more extended than
originally planned but because of the importance of questions
raised, we felt it essential to make sure that all had a chance
to participate and make known their views to us before we formed
any plan of action.
Our own conclusions on
the best way forward are very much in line with the recommendations
of the Select Committee and reflect the views of the Northern
Ireland parties.
I would like to make public
our plan of action for those measures intended to counter abuse
and reinforce the integrity of the Electoral Register - by means
of a press statement. Please let me know if this gives you any
problems.
Details of improvements
in other important aspects of electoral procedure will be announced
in due course. This second set of recommendations will include
measures to improve access to polling stations for the disabled
and voter education. In the meantime, I am sure you will be pleased
to hear that we intend to introduce steps that will enable a move
to an electoral card, using smart card technology, signature verification
or other personal identifiers. As well as being one of your own
Committee's recommendations this was by far the most favoured
option with the Northern Ireland political parties. How this will
bring into effect many of the recommendations in the Select Committee's
report is detailed in our response to your report.
The move towards an electoral
card will necessitate individual rather than household registration
for the Electoral Register in Northern Ireland, a step which will
require statutory provision. The requirement for primary legislation
as well as the measures necessary to put the technology into place
means this will not be an immediate change but will remain our
long term objective. Individual registration will also allow for
the development of signature verification. Again signature verification
was one of the most favoured means of improving voter identification
discussed in the course of our meetings with the parties.
We also intend to set up
a pro-active team to investigate applications for absent and proxy
votes, another recommendation in the Select Committee's report
that we are happy to be able to support and hope to put this into
effect as soon as possible.
In conclusion, I would
like to reiterate my appreciation of the work of the Select Committee
and again emphasise its value and importance to us in carrying
forward our own review. Also, as I mentioned earlier I would be
grateful for your agreement to publicising the action we propose
to take, by means of a short press statement, a copy of which
I attach.[4]
25 May 1999
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