Putting the voter's interests
first
88. We
were deeply concerned by the events of 3 May. Bureaucratic delay
cannot be allowed to undermine Scotland's long democratic tradition.
We agree with Mr Gould that the voter should be placed at the
heart of the electoral process. This may seem an obvious statement,
but it was the failure to consider the voter's perspective that
led to many of the problems of the 3 May elections in Scotland.
We are pleased to note the Minister's statement that "putting
ordinary voters front and centre of this has got to be the motif
for moving this process on"[102]
and
we expect the Scotland Office to act accordingly.
89. The independent
review of the Scottish elections needs to be seen as an opportunity
to restore fully the integrity of the electoral process, and not
to bring about a 'quick fix' by accepting only the simplest and
least controversial recommendations. Although some proposals can
be implemented immediately, others will require significant further
research. Throughout our inquiry, witnesses have indicated that
the problems underlying the 3 May experience are unlikely to be
unique to Scotland. The Scotland Office therefore needs to co-ordinate
its action with other government departments as well as bodies
such as the Electoral Commission and local electoral officials
to ensure that the integrity of the UK's complex electoral landscape
is restored.
102