This page contains some of our statements and responses.
Commission Chair speaks to AEA Annual Conference
On 1 February 2010 Jenny Watson, Commission Chair, gave a speech setting out the Commission's priorities for ensuring a smooth general election and delivering long-term improvements in the way electoral registration and elections are run.
Party political broadcasts
We have written to Ofcom setting out our views on proposed changes to its rules on party political and referendum broadcasts.
Letter to Ofcom sent 16 July 2009 (PDF)
Letter to Ofcom sent 20 November 2009 (PDF)
Service voters
We have published our response to the Ministry of Justice consultation on the draft Service Voters' Registration Period Order 2010 (PDF). The Order extends the length of the Service declaration from three to five years.
Electronic counting
We have published our response to the Greater London Returning Officer's (GLRO) Manual Count – vs. – electronic count cost-benefit assessment (PDF).
Our response highlights a number of key principles that should be observed when vote-counting. It also raises concerns about gaps in the GLRO's cost-benefit assessment, which may result in the advantages of e-counting being overstated. While we appreciate the GLRO's desire to undertake a timely tendering process, we would like to see an improved cost-benefit analysis and a number of transparency and other issues addressed before any e-counting contract is awarded.
The voting rights of convicted prisoners
We have published our response to the Ministry of Justice consultation on the voting rights of convicted prisons in the UK (PDF). We do not take a view on which prisoners should or should not be able to vote, but focus on how the registration of prisoners could be administered.
We support the Government's position that enfranchised prisoners should register to vote at a previous or intended address via a form of individual registration and that they should be able to vote at all elections and referendums. However, we recommend that prisoners are allowed to vote by proxy as well as by post and seek reassurances that the principle of ballot secrecy will be preserved.
Statement on timing of election counts
We have issued a statement on the timing of election vote counts (PDF).
Commission Chair - speech to the Association of Electoral Administrators
On 4 September 2009 Jenny Watson, Chair of the Commission, gave a speech to the Association of Electoral Administrators (PDF) on plans for the General Elections and beyond.
Commission Chair - speech to UCL Constitution Unit
On June 30 2009 Jenny Watson, Chair of the Commission, set out her vision for rebuilding public confidence in democracy and putting the voter first. You can read a transcript of the speech here (PDF) and find more details in our press release on the speech.
Statement on Slough case sentencing
We have made a statement on the sentencing of six men for offences relating to the May 2007 election in Slough Central ward. The men were sentenced to a total of over 13 years in prison by Reading Crown Court.
Our response to the Scottish Government's paper - Chief Returning Officer for Scotland
We have recently publish a paper outlining our response to the Scottish Government's consultation paper (PDF).
Putting voters first: speech to SOLACE national elections conference (14 January 2009)
Peter Wardle, the Electoral Commission's Chief Executive, outlines the Commission's views on how the interests of voters can be put first in every aspect of the electoral process. Read the full speech here (PDF).
Weekend voting
We recently published our response to the Ministry of Justice consultation on weekend voting. We recommend that polling day should not at present be moved to the weekend, since there is a lack of clear evidence that it would be of significant benefit to the voter. Weekend voting could also raise a number of potential issues, for example in relation to resources and security.
Our analysis of electoral administration
In our reports on electoral administration published on 27 August we have called for changes to electoral law to make sure future elections are better run. More information is available in our news release calling for clear leadership for elections.
You can read our report for the UK (PDF) and report for Scotland (PDF) here.
Political Parties and Elections Bill
We have published a short statement in response to the Political Parties and Elections Bill, which was introduced to Parliament on 17 July.
This follows the party finance and expenditure White Paper which was published on 16 June, entitled 'Party finance and expenditure in the United Kingdom'. You can read our full response to the White Paper or the short statement in response to the White Paper here.
Electoral administration in the United Kingdom (December 2007)
On 12 December 2007 we published our report Electoral administration in the United Kingdom (PDF).
The report looks at the status of electoral administration in the UK, and highlights a number of challenges that need to be addressed by all involved in the running of elections. This includes ensuring better consistency in electoral law and elections management across the UK, addressing the current funding arrangements and an end to piece-meal changes to electoral law.
In addition we renew our calls for individual voter registration in Great Britain, to replace the current system of household registration.
As a result of this report we will now be undertaking a detailed examination of the structure of electoral administration in the UK, with a view to publishing options for reform by the summer of 2008.
