— The primary concern of the Returning
Officer is to ensure that if the proposed referendum is held on
the same day as the poll for local elections that the scheduled
Parish Elections should NOT be deferred. — I would like
to make specific comment on the following issues relating to the
regulation of Referenda:
1. Timing
1.1 In order to accommodate authority resources
and scheduled elections and to ensure optimum participation of
the electorate the minimum referenda period should be 10 weeks.
2. The Wording of the Question
2.1 It is imperative to the conduct of the referenda
that the question complies with Plain English/Crystal Mark and
be understandable by all levels of voters. The wording must be
rigorously tested by the Electoral Commission to ensure its clarity.
2.2 The wording should only be on the ballot
paper in the English Language and could be supported by other
literature in other languages.
2.3 I support the national AEA (Association
of Electoral Administrators) response to the intelligibility of
the question, particularly to ensure that no jargon is used.
2.4 With particular reference one section
of the draft legislation (Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies
Bill. Schedule 6, Part 1—amendments of the parliamentary
election rules, 12, (2)) I believe that the proposed wording given
in (2) regarding direction to voters for completion of the ballot
paper should completely rethought to simplify it.
3. The Franchise
3.1 I support the recommendation that the
franchise is the same as set out for the Parliamentary elections.
4. The Regulations of Campaigns
4.1 There should be national direction to promote
public awareness and although Regional Counting Officers will
support the process, should not have this responsibility delegated
to them.
5. The administration of the referendum
5.1 The referenda should be administered on local
authority areas and the results collated on a regional basis in
the same way as the administration of Elections to the European
Parliament.
5.2 I support the appointment and delegated responsibility
to regional counting officers who already have the mechanisms
and networks in place for these functions.
5.3 Regarding the timing of the counting
of the referenda ballots—There is a significant difference
between this poll and that for those that include expectant Candidates
and authorities waiting to function (ie parliament). Therefore
the timing of the counting of the votes should be flexible to
allow me, as a Returning Officer, to accommodate the counting
of the referenda votes in a way that it most cost effective to
the local authority and will accommodate the other elections being
held.
6. Combination with a general election
6.1 dministratively I would prefer the proposed
referenda be on a separate day from the ordinary elections in
May 2011.
6.2 If the intended referendum is to be combined
with local elections then I strongly recommend that Parish Council
elections are NOT deferred.
1 September 2010
