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Part One
THE COMMISSION, THE LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE
1.1 The Electoral Commission is an independent body,
established by Parliament under the Political Parties, Elections
and Referendums Act 2000. The Commission's statutory obligations
regarding electoral administration are to report on elections
and to run referendums. The legislation permits, but does not
require, the Commission to recommend the use of the Secretary
of State's power of direction to electoral registration officers,
provide guidance and advice on electoral administration, issue
performance standards for 'relevant officers' and make assessments
of performance, and direct 'relevant officers' to provide cost
data.
1.2 The Electoral Commission's aim is "integrity
and public confidence in the UK's democratic process".[3]
This study focuses on the Commission's objective for well-run
elections, referendums and electoral registration. In recent years
the Commission has spent some £22.6 million per year. Some
60 per cent of this expenditure (£11.7 million in 2009-10)
is on objectives directly relating to well-run elections, referendums
and electoral registration; a breakdown of this expenditure in
2009-10 is at Figure 2. Of the £11.7 million spent in 2009-10,
£2.9 million (£4.3 million including a share of corporate
costs) was spent on electoral administration. £4.9 million
(£7.3 million including a share of corporate costs) was spent
on election campaigns, primarily on the European Parliamentary
elections in 2009. With respect to campaigns, we have reported
previously on the Electoral Commission's public awareness strategy[4]
and have therefore focused on expenditure on the 2010 general
election in Part Four of this report. £1.1 million on grants
are outside the scope of this report.[5]
The Commission's ability to disaggregate its costs has improved
over recent years and should improve further which will enable
comparison over time. In 2010-11 projected total spend is £19.3
million,[6] following the
transfer of boundary responsibilities to the Local Government
Boundary Commission for England.
Figure 2 Commission
expenditure on well-run elections, referendums and electoral registration,
2009-10
| Direct costs |
| |
| £ '000
| £ '000 |
| Performance monitoring |
276 | |
| Director Electoral Administration and support staff
| 172 | |
| Regional and devolved offices1
| 921 | |
| Research1 |
451 | |
| Legal1 | 388
| |
| Other2 | 672
| |
| Total direct costs excluding campaigns
| | 2,880
|
| | |
| Campaigns3 |
4,878 | |
| Total direct costs
| | 7,758
|
| | |
| Corporate costs attributed to well-run elections, referendums and electoral registration1
| | |
| | |
| Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive & support staff4
| 719 | |
| Finance | 636
| |
| IT | 632
| |
| HR | 349
| |
| Facilities | 884
| |
| Corporate communications5
| 675 | |
| Total corporate costs attributed to well-run elections, referendums and electoral registration
| | 3,895
|
| | |
| Total direct and corporate costs6
| | 11,653
|
Note
1. These costs represent a share of total costs attributed
to electoral administration.
2. 'Other' covers a range of electoral administration
costs including guidance preparation, statutory reporting, and
referendum planning. The Commission cannot fully disaggregate
these costs for 2009-10.
3. Mostly advertising for the 2009 European Parliamentary
Elections: includes some publicity spending for the 2010 General
Election.
4. Represents senior management and support staff
salaries, including strategy and Corporate Plan development.
5. Includes some costs of disseminating guidance
to Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers.
6. Excluding Partnership grants (£1.1 million)
as outside study scope.
Source: NAO Analysis of Electoral Commission management
information.
1.3 The Commission's Corporate Plans divide its activities
into several objectives which have changed in recent years. Therefore,
it is not possible to give a comparison of spend against objectives
for the full period since the 2005 General Election. The last
four years are sufficiently similar for meaningful comparison
(figure 3).
Figure 3 Historic breakdown of Commission expenditure
Note:
1) 2009-10 Objectives 2 and 3 included expenditure
on Objective 4.
2) From 2010-11 boundary arrangements are no longer
within the Commission's objectives
Source: Electoral Commission
THE COMMISSION'S POSITION IN THE
STRUCTURE OF ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATION
1.4 Figure 4 sets out the key accountability and
policy relationships with respect to the administration of elections.
The Cabinet Office is responsible for law and policy with respect
to Westminster, European, and London elections, national referendums,
for most aspects of law and policy relating to local elections
in England and Wales, and for electoral registration across Great
Britain.
1.5 The Speaker's Committee for the Electoral Commission
determines, and oversees, the procedures for nominating Electoral
Commissioners. It also examines the five-year plans and the estimates
of resources needed for the Electoral Commission.
Figure 4Electoral
Commission's key relationships
Source: NAO analysis
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE RUNNING
OF ELECTIONS AND REFERENDUMS
1.6 The Electoral Commission is not responsible for
the running of electoral registration or elections. Electoral
Registration Officers are responsible for registration and Returning
Officers[7] are responsible
for elections. These are statutory posts, typically filled by
local authority employees, supported by an Electoral Services
team. In this report we refer to Returning Officers, Electoral
Registration Officers and their staff as electoral administrators.
In these roles they are not accountable to anyone except the courts.
The systems are different in the comparator countries we examined
for benchmarking purposes. These included, primarily, Canada and
Australia, where the national elections body employs administrators
directly.
1.7 In England and Wales, local authority Chief Executives
usually hold both posts of Returning Officer and Electoral Registration
Officer; in Scotland the posts are separate, with local authority
chief executives as Returning Officers. Northern Ireland has its
own system of individual registration, with the Chief Electoral
Officer being the Returning Officer for each constituency.
1.8 Although the Commission has no power of direction,
the responsible Minister can make directions to Electoral Registration
Officers about the register on the basis of a Commission recommendation.[8]
This power has been used once, in April 2008, to set standards
for the formatting of names, dates of birth and addresses in electoral
registers.[9]
1.9 The Electoral Commission is responsible for running
referendums (not including mayoral and local referendums) under
the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 and
for these events has the power to direct those running the referendum[10]
including the statutory officers, known as Counting Officers.
The Chief Counting Officer (the Chair of the Commission or their
appointee) may appoint a Regional Counting Officer for any area
in Great Britain. Returning Officers, by virtue of their role
in elections are automatically appointed to the role of Counting
Officers for their local authority area, and are at the disposal
of the Chief Counting Officer in the discharge of her duties.
1.10 The Commission has a statutory duty to report
on the conduct of elections and referendums. It published reports
on the 2010 General Election in May and July 2010.[11]
When referendums and elections occur simultaneously, as is likely
in 2011, the Commission will ensure that its statutory roles are
kept separate within its organisation.
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR LEGISLATION
1.11 The Government has a statutory requirement to
consult the Commission on proposed secondary legislation affecting
electoral administration.[12]
The Commission also comments regularly on proposed primary legislation
and monitors and evaluates the impact of existing legislation
in areas where it has operational expertise. Typically, the Commission
comments on the practical effects of policies and developing methods
to implement them.
1.12 The Cabinet Office has primary responsibility
in Whitehall for legislation affecting England and Wales, but
there is contact and consultation with other government departments,
including:
- the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office regarding implementation of legislation about the number
of MEPs
- the Home Office regarding plans to introduce
elected Police and Crime Commissioners
- the Department for Communities and Local Government
regarding the localism agenda
- the Welsh Assembly Government on its administrative
responsibilities for Welsh Assembly and local government elections
in Wales.
- the Northern Ireland Office on its responsibilities
for local government elections in Northern Ireland.
1.13 The Scotland Office shares responsibility for
the Scottish system with the Scottish Parliament and Government,
who are responsible for local government elections in Scotland,
including electoral systems and the timing and administration
of elections. For all other elections in the UK policy responsibilities
remain with UK Government departments.
COMPLEXITY OF LEGISLATION
1.14 The legislation around elections is complex.
The Electoral Commission estimates that there are 36 pieces of
legislation governing UK electoral administration.[13]
This heightens the risk to the administration of elections. Comparator
countries such as Australia and Canada have single Acts governing
electoral administration.[14]
The Electoral Commission has consistently recommended legislative
consolidation since 2001.[15]
In this it is supported by stakeholders such as the Association
of Electoral Administrators.[16]
The Government is yet to respond to this recommendation.
1.15 Legislative changes have increased the complexity
of elections in terms of the number of systems employed. There
are currently six systems in operation across the UK:
- first-past-the-post
for elections to the UK Parliament;
- multi member plurality
system for local council elections in England and Wales;
- closed party list
system for elections to the European Parliament (except in Northern
Ireland);
- additional member
system for elections to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh National
Assembly and London Assembly;
- the single transferable vote
system for local council elections in Scotland and Northern Ireland,
the Northern Ireland Assembly and elections to the European Parliament
in Northern Ireland; and
- the supplementary vote
system for the election of the Mayor of London and directly elected
local authority mayors in England.
1.16 The most recent Act affecting electoral administration
was the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. This passed
on 8 April 2010, contravening an accepted principle, the 'Gould
principle', that major electoral changes should not be made less
than six months before an election. Some electoral administrators
found this Act problematic due to the requirement for counting
to begin within four hours of the close of poll. In our survey,
48 respondents (out of 88) said this Act made no difference and
23 said it had been fairly or very unhelpful; only 16 rated it
as very or fairly helpful. Electoral administrators view earlier
legislation, such as the Electoral Administration Act 2006 and
the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009, more positively
than the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (figure 5).
Figure 5'How
helpful has each of the recent legislative measures been to your
ability to administer the 2010 General Election?'
| Legislation
| Very helpful
| Fairly helpful
| No impact
| Fairly unhelpful
| Very unhelpful
| Total
|
| Electoral Administration Act 2006
|
10
|
45
|
9
|
17
|
7
|
88
|
| Political Parties and Election Act 2009
|
7
|
27
|
38
|
11
|
5
|
88
|
| Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010
|
4
|
12
|
48
|
12
|
11
|
87
|
Base: 88 respondents
Source: NAO survey
IMPACT OF COMPLEX LEGISLATION: PARTY
EMBLEMS
1.17 In 2006, a provision of the Electoral Administration
Act, 2006 had the effect of preventing dual-party candidates (standing
as the Labour/Co-op or Conservative and Ulster Unionist candidates)
from using party emblems due to a drafting oversight. Parliament,
the Commission, the Ministry of Justice, the political parties
and electoral administrators all failed to spot the oversight
owing to the complexity of the issue.
1.18 In April 2010 the Commission identified the
problem and informed electoral administrators. This did not occur
until many ballot papers had been printed and therefore had to
be reprinted.
1.19 Candidates who intended to stand with a joint
description at the General Election had to either:
- withdraw their nominations
and resubmit to stand as a candidate for only one party in order
to retain an emblem, or
- retain a joint description without emblem.
This affected 42 Labour/ Co-operative candidates
and 17 joint Conservative and Ulster Unionist Party candidates.
ELECTORAL COMMISSION INFLUENCE OVER
LEGISLATION AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT
1.20 The Commission aims to influence legislation
and policy changes on the basis of its expertise and has had some
notable successes. For example, the Commission supported the introduction
of individual electoral registration, passed in the Political
Parties and Elections Act, 2009. This is a fundamental change
in voter registration. The Commission consistently pushed for
this measure from 2003 onwards in order to improve the quality
of the register and control fraud, based on its research, although
it cannot take sole credit.
1.21 After the introduction of postal voting on demand
in 2000, problems developed with postal voting fraud. The Commission
supported a measure requiring voters to provide personal identifiers
with their postal vote applications and subsequent ballots and
for a minimum sample of 20 per cent of postal ballot packs to
be checked in Great Britain. This measure was passed as part of
the Electoral Administration Act, 2006. The Commission subsequently
also achieved a move to 100 per cent checking at the operational
level.
1.22 Following the problems with rejected ballot
papers affecting the 2007 Scottish Parliamentary elections, the
Commission appointed Ron Gould to investigate the problems experienced
and propose solutions. He found that some of the problems arose
due to late passage of legislation and recommended that major
changes to legislation affecting elections should not be made
less than six months before the election (or should not come into
force until afterwards). The Commission endorsed this 'Gould principle'.
The Gould Report also set out the principle that the interests
of voters should be paramount, emphasised the need for legislative
consolidation, and made recommendations about the structure of
electoral administration in Scotland.
SCOPE FOR STRUCTURAL CHANGE
1.23 There are two key opportunities where the Cabinet
Office and Electoral Commission should learn from experience to
inform structural changes.
1.24 Referendums in 2011 in Wales and for the voting
system for UK parliamentary elections will be a key test for the
Electoral Commission to show they can deliver a major electoral
event with a responsibility for the whole process including a
power of direction, or equivalent management role, over the Counting
Officers delivering the referendum locally.
1.25 The new Electoral Management Board for Scotland
has been an important achievement for the Commission, which was
able to provide leadership that the electoral administrators by
themselves could not. Although untested, it is also a possible
model for a regional structure combined with the post of Elections
Convener and power of direction over Electoral Registration Officers
and Returning Officers. This would be in line with recommendations
made by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in 2007.[17]
3 Electoral Commission, Corporate Plan 2010-11 to 2014-15,
p.5 Back
4
Speaker's Committee first report 2006 Appendix 1, Report of
the Comptroller and Auditor General to the Speaker's Committee
on the work of the Electoral Commission. Speaker's Committee
second report 2009 Appendix , Follow Up of C&AG's Reports:
Electoral Commission 2005-2009. Back
5
Electoral Commission, Annual Report 2009-10, p. 39 Back
6
Electoral Commission, Corporate Plan 2010-11 to 2014-15, p. 38 Back
7
Technically (Acting) Returning Officers; strictly speaking, Returning
Officer is an honorary position held by the county High Sheriff,
the borough Mayor or council Chairman. Back
8
Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 Back
9
See Guidance on Electoral Registration Data Standards Directive,
Ministry of Justice, April 2008 Back
10
Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000,
which established the Commission. Back
11
Electoral Commission, Interim Report on 2010 General Election
May 2010 and Final Report, July 2010 Back
12
Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 Back
13
p. 28, para 3.9. Electoral Commission, 'Voting for Change: an
electoral law modernisation programme'. 2003. Back
14
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 governs Australian elections;
the Canada Elections Act 2000 governs Canadian elections. Back
15
Electoral Commission's internal documentation Back
16
Association of Electoral Administrators, 'Beyond 2010' report,
July 2010, p.4 Back
17
Committee on Standards in Public Life, 11th Report 2007, recommendations
9&10, p.10 Back
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