07 Oct 2008
Electors may have missed out on the opportunity to vote in recent UK Parliamentary by-elections, says a report published by the Electoral Commission. Short election timetables meant that - for those who had not already done so there was little time to register to vote or apply for a postal vote. Returning Officers also had little time to prepare and plan for the polls.
Despite the pressures this placed on electoral administrators, the Commissions report on the Parliamentary by-elections in Crewe & Nantwich, Haltemprice and Howden, Henley and Glasgow East found that the elections ran smoothly with few problems.
The Commission is recommending that the timetable for all UK Parliamentary elections, including by-elections, be extended to 25 working days. This would bring it in line with the timetable for local government elections. At present, the timetable for Parliamentary by-elections can be as short as 15 working days.
Andrew Scallan, Director of Electoral Administration and Boundaries at the Electoral Commission, commented: Short timescales mean that electors have little time in some instances only two working days to register to vote or apply for a postal vote if they have not already done so.
The current timetable also places an unnecessary burden on electoral administrators, who have very little time to undertake extensive planning and training.
Our concern is that such a timetable could cause difficulties for electors and electoral administrators at the next UK general election. That is why - in the interest of voters we are recommending that the Government extend the Parliamentary timetable to 25 days.
The report by the Commission covers every stage of the administration of the by-elections from the issuing of the writ to the announcement of the result and is available to view on the Commissions website at www.electoralcommission.org.uk/publications-and-research/election-reports.
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Notes to editors
- The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. Our aim is integrity and public confidence in the UKs democratic process. We regulate party and election finance and set standards for well-run elections.
- The Electoral Commission was given the discretion to report on the administration of by-elections to the UK Parliament by the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (EAA). This report, on four UK Parliamentary by-elections held in the period 22 May to 24 July 2008 in Crewe & Nantwich, Henley, Haltemprice & Howden and Glasgow East, is the second such report.
- In July 2008 we published our reports on the administration of the local government elections in England and Wales. We published a separate report on the Greater London Authority elections which included an assessment of the use of electronic counting.
- A full copy of the report (The Crewe & Nantwich, Henley, Haltemprice & Howden and Glasgow East by-elections Report on the administration of the by-elections) is available from the Commissions website.
