The future of electoral administration

In late 2007, in our response to Ron Gould’s report on the Scottish elections and in a report on the state of electoral administration in the UK, we said that we would examine the structures for the delivery of elections and consider whether changes are needed to avoid repeating the problems seen in 2007. We have now published our views on the future of electoral administration.

Find out more on our views and read the full reports here.

Setting standards

We have been working in consultation with electoral administrators and others on the performance standards framework for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Returning Officers (ROs). The standards for EROs were published in July 2008 and we will be asking EROs to assess themselves against these after the annual canvass. We have recently published accompanying guidance to this. Consultation is currently underway on draft performance standards for ROs which will lead to the final standards in March 2009.

Click here for more information on our work on setting performance standards.

Roll up, roll up!

The annual canvass of electors is currently underway in England, Scotland and Wales. Each household will receive a registration form to make sure everyone who is eligible is on the electoral roll. We sent a manual on managing electoral registration services in GB to all EROs earlier this year. You can view all our annual canvass information and guidance on our website.

Making your mark

We are reviewing the design of voter materials to make them more user friendly, so that people can vote easily and confidently. Over the next few months we will be asking our stakehlders for their thoughts on the design of ballot papers, voter guidance (in polling stations and booths) and postal voting statements.

Weekend voting

We recently published our response to the Ministry of Justice consultation on weekend voting. We recommend that polling day should not at pesent be moved to the weekend, since there is a lack of clear evidence that it will significantly benefit voters. Weekend voting could also raise a number of potential issues, for example in relation to resources.

Looking after the figures

We are planning to launch a new database to replace the existing registers database, providing a web-based party and election finance system for political parties and other regulated bodies. The system will make it easier for users to upload their data and for people to view and compare it. Development work has begun and in the coming months we will consult with people who will use the system.

Political Parties and Elections Bill

Following the Government's White Paper on party finance, featured in the last edition of the register, the Political Parties and Elections Bill was introduced to Parliament in July.

In our response to the Bill we welcomed the proposals to strengthen the Commission by providing it with wider investigative powers and a more flexible range of sanctions for use when the rules on party and election finances are broken. We continue to raise our concerns about proposals in the Bill to change the make up of the Commission. In particular, we do not believe that proposals on the appointment of Commissioners with recent party political experience can work without compromising confidence in our independence. We believe these proposals are not an appropriate and workable way to provide us with greater access to party political experience, and we are particularly concerned by the proposals for political party nominees.

Read more on our views on the Bill here.

Overseas voters

We are currently running a campaign to encourage UK citizens living overseas to register to vote. Figures have indicated that only a minority of those eligible are actually registered. The campaign consists of online and press advertising, PR, and search engine marketing.

Click here for more on our public awareness work.