Tag: Lord Rennard

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to gather data from Electoral Registration Officers about levels of electoral registration as at 1 December 2015, and whether that process will differ from practice in previous years.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will have published their revised registers by 1 December 2015. As in previous years the Electoral Commission will use the data from these registers to inform their assessment of the state of the December 2015 registers, which they plan to publish in late February/early March. The Cabinet Office has worked with EROs, Electoral Management Software suppliers and the EC to gather data that will assist the assessment of the December 2015 registers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their response is to the recommendation of the Electoral Commission in its report on the 2016 EU referendum that Governments should make use of all available owned channels to promote voter registration ahead of any major poll.””

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

We welcome the Electoral Commission’s recommendation. This recommendation reflects the success of activities conducted by the Government to promote registration ahead of the EU Referendum that complemented the activity delivered by the Commission.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish data showing the number of entries on the electoral register as at 1 December 2015; and if so, whether they will break down that information by (1) country, (2) constituency and (3) local authority.

Lord Bridges of Headley

On 24th February the Office for National Statistics will publish total register entries at a local authority level for local government registers and at a constituency level for parliamentary registers. The Electoral Commission is planning to publish a report in late February/early March on the state of the December 2015 registers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many allegations of personation were made to the police in respect of the EU referendum, how many of these are under active investigation, and what proportion this represents of votes cast in the referendum.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

The Electoral Commission’s report on the EU Referendum has found that at the referendum there were 19 allegations relating to personation at a polling station and that following police inquiries, five of these cases have been resolved as no further action required, one resulted in a caution being accepted, and the remaining 13 are still under investigation. The Commission’s report states that 33,577,342 votes were cast at the referendum. The Government is currently considering the recommendations of the independent review by my Rt Hon Friend, the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Sir Eric Pickles), which includes recommendations on tackling the scope for personation and introducing voter ID at polling stations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the completeness of the electoral register as at 1 December 2015, broken down by (1) the UK in total, (2) country, (3) local authority and (4) constituency.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Electoral Commission is expected to publish their assessment of the completeness and accuracy of the first full electoral registers under IER this summer. This will provide a breakdown at a country level but not by local authority or constituency. The previous study of this nature was based on the last registers prior to the introduction IER, published in February/March 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reported concerns about (1) the use of ordinary pencils for ballot papers as opposed to pens or pencils with indelible ink, and (2) ballot papers being changed, during the EU referendum ballot; and whether they are planning to ensure that polling stations are provided with special ballot pens or pencils using indelible ink.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

The Government has noted the Electoral Commission’s comments on this issue in its report on the EU Referendum. The rules governing the conduct of the referendum, which were based on the legislation in place for UK Parliamentary elections, did not specify the type of writing implement that electors must use to complete their ballot paper and voters were able to use the pencil provided or mark their ballot paper with a pen if they preferred. There were also specific safeguards in place to protect the integrity of the ballot.

We are not aware of any cases of ballot papers being changed at the referendum.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the Electoral Commission’s conclusion in its report UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report, that the Commission should be provided with investigative powers and sanctions for offences relating to candidate spending and donations at specified elections”.”

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Electoral Commission published its “UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report” on 29 February 2016. The Government is considering the report and will respond in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the Electoral Commission’s UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Electoral Commission published its “UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report” on 29 February 2016. The Government is considering the report and will respond in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response the Law Commissions’ recommendations to reform UK electoral law.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Government is currently considering the recommendations made by the Law Commissions in their interim report of 4 February. This is a wide-ranging report that covers a number of complex issues and it is important that the Government give the report due consideration before a formal response is made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will publish details of the recommendations for potential changes to electoral legislation by Sir Eric Pickles MP.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Sir Eric Pickles will make his recommendations as soon as he is able. 66 written submissions are under consideration, as well as evidence provided in meetings with specific people and at a seminar of academics, stakeholder organisations and political parties.