This is an answer to a question asked on 2nd February, 2004.
Councillor Foster asks - "Given that the forthcoming European elections in the East Midlands are to be an all postal vote pilot, will the Deputy Leader inform the Council of any steps that the Council plans to take to prevent and detect fraud at those elections? Answer - The European Elections will be administered on a regional basis. The Regional Returning Officer for the East Midlands will be Roger Morris, Chief Executive of Northampton Borough Council, with Local Returning Officers being appointed to assist him, in each Local Authority in the East Midlands. The European Parliamentary and Local Elections 'Pilots' Bill is still being refined by the Department for Constitutional Affairs. It currently contains 2 clauses relating to offences and includes more severe penalties concerning 'personation'. A final policy paper is still to be published by that Department. It is being drafted in consultation with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Electoral Commission and the Association of Electoral Administrators. The policy paper will describe the proposed working of the postal ballot for the East Midlands and is believed to contain a number of new measures to improve the security of the ballot. The Council will take all necessary action relating to the security of the ballot as provided in the Act, once it is passed. I have arranged for officers to write to members on this point once arrangements are known." But I am struck at how the Lib Dems have yet again raised matters of security regarding postal voting in the Council Chamber. Cllr. Gary Long made a point about scandals associated with postal voting during the debate at Full Council in December 2002, seeing the matter as overwhelming and suggesting that only the Liberal Democrats view this was a sufficiently important issue. So I searched the internet for 'vote rigging'. Not a scientific exercise, I acknowledge, but the latest court case I found involves 2 Liberal Democrats from Bristol and Somerset and the most recent conviction I found happened in Hackney where a Liberal Democrat Councillor and a Tory Councillor were sent to gaol for their abuse of the postal voting system. Now I recognise that all parties are only as good as their conduct at the next elections. But I wish the Liberal Democrats would make these points in debate with a tad more humility. What is more striking is how unsympathetic the Liberal Democrats are to the idea of automatic postal voting. Recently, one of their Euro MPs simply stated that 'Automatic postal voting is designed solely for those too lazy to make the effort'. Is this really the voice of the modern Liberal Democrats? A party - indeed more a franchise - so shallow, that its hallmark is to be on the voters' side on every local issue. Well, on the voters' side on every single issue it seems, except helping more people to cast their vote in elections, cos this is what the pilots are finding. Now I love the sense of occasion when people visit their local school or community hall to cast their votes. I feel affection for the black on white posters that invoke a simpler age, especially the prints of hands that point the way. I love it so much that I even spent the whole of polling day of 1999's European elections outside Walter Halls school, meeting voters and asking them for their poll numbers. I probably met around 845 voters that day. Sounds like a lot, but the turnout was probably only just over 20%. And when the turnout is so low, really it's not so much fun. It's frustrating and it undermines the mandate of those elected. I came away believing something must be done. The turnout that day across the city was around 20% or roughly 40,000 people. Why was the turnout so low? Is it that people don't care? In part, perhaps and it would help of the media weren't so unremittingly cynical about politicians. As Alistair Campbell said last week - "if the public knew the truth about politicians, they would be pleasantly surprised". But I believe part of the explanation is that people have so much to take on board and to do in modern everyday life, that they can find it hard to fit voting in. It's common to find people have too much to do - in particular looking after children - when asking people to vote during the evening of election day. [Beat] Returning to the matter of security, we are relying on the independent advice of the Electoral Commission. This is the independent body set up 'to ensure public confidence and participation in the democratic process ... through modernisation of the electoral process and promotion of public awareness of electoral matters'. Their independent report "The Shape of Elections to come - A Strategic Evaluation of the 2003 electoral pilot schemes", published in July 2003, says - “Our evaluation of the all-postal pilot schemes suggests that this approach is effective in boosting participation rates at local elections – to an extent that was largely underestimated when the pilots process first began, and which appears to be sustainable. “Indeed, there are real risks that if Returning Officers in areas with repeated experience of all-postal elections are obliged to revert to use of polling stations alone, voters will express considerable frustration and disappointment. “There is only very limited evidence of any increase in fraud or electoral offences linked to the use of all-postal ballots, but that is not to say that they are risk-free, any more than a traditional election is." I repeat - “There is only very limited evidence of any increase in fraud or electoral offences linked to the use of all-postal ballots ..." Now of course, we saw on January 28th - such a 'Perfect Day' – that organisations don't always want to believe what an independent report says. But, overall, here is a genuine attempt to boost participation in local elections and to give a stronger mandate to elected representatives. It's proving successful. There are issues to deal with, and these are being addressed in a steady, considered, step-by-step manner. A good cause, being handled in a sensible way. Automatic postal voting could mean an extra 30,000 people in Nottingham cast a vote. So we are left wondering - what is it that's driving the Liberal Democrats to take a stance against a genuine attempt to increase voter participation in elections? - - - - From November 2001 ... The City Council considered a proposal to host all postal vote elections as a trial for the election on 1st May 2003. The Labour Party is recommending a trial because of fears that election turnout may be low again and giving people the automatic option of voting by post has boosted turnout elsewhere in the country. The proposal is to allow all people to vote by post; and for those that don't to have a chance to vote in the normal way at their local polling station. This does cost more, but turnout will be substantially increased. Other Councils have doubled turnout this way.
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