Electoral Administration Act
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What the Act does
The Bill seeks to clarify and modernise electoral law much of which retains its nineteenth century heritage. This is the first consolidation of electoral law since the Representation of the People Act 1983 despite changes to electoral law and the creation of new elected bodies such as the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly and Greater London Assembly.
Proposals in the Bill include:
- moving the deadline for registering to vote to eleven days before polling day, thus enabling people to register after a general election has been called
- allowing certain people who believe their personal safety would be put at risk by appearing on a public register to register anonymously;
- making provision for a marked register of postal voters;
- creating a new offence of falsely applying for a postal vote will be introduced by the Bill;
- allowing political parties to be registered up to 2 two days before the close of nominations. The Electoral Commission will be given the power to de-register parties that which fail to confirm their registered particulars within 6 months of the anniversary of their registration;
- reducing the age of candidacy for all elections to eighteen. Candidacy will also be dependent on immigration status; new provisions will mean that candidates must have either indefinite leave to remain or right of abode;
- allowing a six word description for independent candidates on the ballot paper. Candidates will also be able to use the name by which they are commonly known on the ballot paper;
- reducing the threshold at which a deposit is lost from 5% to 2%.
- the accessibility of polling stations will be reviewed every four years. New rules will ensure accessibility for disabled persons;
- allowing accredited observers into polling stations and children will also be allowed to accompany voters;
- changing the design of ballot papers to allow two columns of named candidates. Counterfoils will be replaced by a corresponding number list; this will allow postal vote printing and processing to be streamlined;
- a number of changes to the regulation of election expenses, including third party expenditure and the introduction of a four month time limit for all elections;
- requiring Electoral Registration Officers to take a number of steps to improve the rate of registration among the armed forces; and
- the establishment of the Co-ordinated Online Register of Electors (CORE).
A copy of the Bill can be found here
June 2006
After a small game of parliamentary ping pong over amendments on personal identifiers the Electoral Administration has now been passed.
The Conservative Party had intially proposed that applications for postal ballots and proxy votes should have the additional security of personal identifiers - a signature and date of birth.
This was rejected by the House of Commons and the Bill was sent back to the Lords. Another amendment was then passed which again called for personal identifiers but this time for each individual on the canvass form. This would mean individual rather than household registration. Although this would make voting more secure many MPs were concerned that individual voter registration would lead to a further reduction in registration, particularly among 18-24 year olds. It is currently estimated that between 3 million and 4.5 million people who are eligible to vote are not registered.
The amendment was rejected by the House of Commons and Baroness Hannam who had proposed the amendment decided not to pursue the matter.
May 2006
Lord Falconer has proposed amendments to the Bill during Report Stage to close the loophole on loans to political parties. As a result of the recent loans for peerages scandal all loans to political parties - even those lent to parties on commercial terms - will be regulated in the same was as donations.
- All commercial and non-commericial loans to parties over £5,000 will have to be reported to the electoral commission at quarterly intervals
- All loans outstanding on the day that the new provisions come into force, and any taken out thereafter, will have to be disclosed
- A party will only be allowed to take out a loan only from sources from which it is permitted to receive donations, although existing loans will not be subject to that permissibility requirement
- The reporting regime will apply to loans and all credit facilities and the provision by third parties of guarantees and securities
The Conservative Party has also tabled amendemnts to allow for personal identifiers - a signature and date of birth - on applications for pstal or proxy votes. Personal identifiers are one the key issues in this Bill. The Electoral Commission and others have called for personal identifiers to increase the security of the ballot but the Governmen fears it would lead to a decrease in voter registration.
March 2006
The Electoral Administration Bill continues its progress through the House of Lords on 21st March.
The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, has proposed that the Electoral Administration Bill be amended to require political parties to publish the details of any loans they enter into. This would close the loophole whereby donations to political parties over £5,000 have to be reported to the Electoral Commission but loans do not. The Electoral Commission publishes the register of donations, including the names of individuals and companies who made donations, quarterly. It is expected that a similar system would operate for loans.
December 2005
The Electoral Administration Bill continues its progress through Parliament having completed the Committee stage on 22nd November. The Bill seeks to clarify and modernise electoral law - much of which retains its nineteenth century heritage. This is the first consolidation of electoral law since the Representation of the People Act 1983 despite changes to electoral law and the creation of new elected bodies such as the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly and Greater London Assembly.
Significantly, the Bill does not provide for the introduction of individual voter registration, which was the Electoral Commissions key recommendation in its Voting for Change report. Instead, it will require each person registering to vote to provide personal identifiers: a signature and date of birth. Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats opposed this proposal during the second reading debate in the House of Commons. The Liberal Democrats argued in favour of individual voter registration and the Conservatives called for National Insurance numbers to be used as a personal identifier, as is the case in Northern Ireland.
The Bill already amends the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act in respect of accounting procedures for small parties and the reporting of donations to political parties. Currently political parties are required to submit quarterly reports of the donations they have received even if they have not received any over the £5,000 reporting threshold. The Bill proposes that parties who have not received reportable donations in four consecutive quarters should be exempted from submitting quarterly donation reports. In addition the Bill removes the requirement for the reporting of multiple small donations, as it is not believed to be effective or enforceable. Sponsorship will still be considered a donation but will in future be listed on the donations register as sponsorship.
The Bill's Progress
Responsible department: Dept for Constitutional Affairs
House of Commons stages
Introduced: 11 Oct 2005
Second reading: 24 Oct 2005
Committee stage: 8, 15 & 17-22 Nov 2005
Remaining stages: 11 January 2006
House of Lords stages
First reading: 13 Jan 2006
Second reading: 13 Feb 2006
Committee stage: 28 Feb & 16, 21 & 23 March 2006
Report stage: 26 April 2006
Re-Committed: 8 May 2006
Report stage: 15 May 2006
Third reading: 7 June 2006
Consideration of Commons reason: 20 June 2006
ROYAL ASSENT: 11 July 2006
