Northern Ireland Assembly Parties’ Panel: 20 August 2024

1.1 KR welcomed attendees to the meeting. Welcomes were made to SLG, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, and JC of the DUP who was attending the NIAPP for the first time.

1.2 KR also welcomed guest speakers TS (Policy officer at RNIB) and CC of Royal Mail.

Both SLG and TS joined the meeting remotely.

2.1 The minutes were agreed.

3.1 There were no issues raised by political parties in advance of the meeting.

a. Registration - Digital Registration Number (DRN)/Absent voting.

DM informed the panel that there was significant improvement for those applying for an absent vote. Approximately 80% of applicants successfully applied for an absent vote with the lack of DRN now equal to a lack of attestation as the main reasons for unsuccessful applications. This is about 10% of applications each.
SL mentioned that her party were made aware of a few people who received an absent vote pack but for some reason did not get a ballot inside with no ability to redress.

DM confirmed that there is no ability to apply for a replacement lost postal vote in NI unlike GB. 
DM was confident that processes in place at EONI ensured that all absent vote envelopes issued contained ballots. There were about 20 complaints of missing ballots on record out of 20000 envelopes issued. There were suggestions that some constituencies with few candidates, and therefore a smaller ballot paper, may not have had their ballot folded in the envelope and this could potentially be missed by the voter.
There are currently up to 5 pieces of paper in an envelope, and DM would like to follow suit with GB and scale this back, potentially combining pieces of paper or having a piece which can be separated into the different components.

SL queried why NI is different to GB? DM informed the panel that this was a historical anti-fraud measure and explained that it was much harder to get an absent vote in NI.CH added that unlike GB there is no online absent vote application process which may solve some of these issues if brought in. KR informed the group that this feedback would be raised during the Commission’s meeting with the Northern Ireland Office.
DM explained that almost 50000 applications to register to vote were made online. 
DM stated that the GB level of absent vote applications would be difficult for EONI to handle as about a quarter of the GB poll would be absent votes which significantly surpasses current NI levels.
DM noted in NI, an attestation by a medical professional is required for an absent vote, on the grounds of illness. This had become an issue as a considerable number of doctors now charge fees for this type of service. CH Agreed that this was a growing issue and would need to be looked at.

b. Nominations

SLG highlighted that the biggest challenge in terms of nominations was the number of papers submitted on last day which was 40 out of the 136 in total.
SLG confirmed that whilst nomination papers were not always completed correctly, EONI provided support and were confident that everyone who wished to nominate was able to.

c. Campaigning

CH discussed how the Commission ran a high-profile campaign with the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) regarding the safety of candidates and acknowledged that the figures of reported abuse are down, however caveated this with the fact that there were less candidates at the UKPGE compared to the May 2023 local council elections which may have been a factor in this.
The Electoral Commission takes intimidation and harassment very seriously and is very keen to hear about how campaigning went for parties and candidates and requested that if anyone has any instances that they wish to share with the Commission then to please feel free to contact it. Attendees were reminded that this could be done anonymously and dealt with in confidence if preferred.

JM reminded the panel that the Commission are still consulting on a code of conduct for campaigners and will bring that to the next NIAPP meeting.

SL asked if this covers polling stations as this was particularly difficult at this election which JM confirmed it did.

d. Public awareness

NB informed the panel about the Commission’s public awareness activities in the run up to the election, particularly around voter registration and raising awareness of the DRN. The latter of which was unique to Northern Ireland.

The DRN campaign linked to EONI’s new “Am I registered?” feature on their website. The registration campaign ran on the usual channels including television, radio and the internet and the Commission in Northern Ireland made itself available to local media outlets.

The Commission also worked on the UK-wide campaign with the Jo Cox foundation, to promote an election free of abuse alongside EONI and the public prosecution service.

e. Royal Mail

CC Confirmed Royal Mail had received and delivered 134 candidate mailings at the UKPGE. Generally everything went very well. There were some of the usual difficulties with box weights and incorrect labels.

Due to recent boundary changes, there were a few reported issues of unaddressed mail being delivered incorrectly, this was addressed when Royal Mail was made aware of the issue. CC reminded the parties of the need to inform Royal Mail if there are any issues as soon as possible, so they can be rectified at the time.
DM commended CC and Royal Mail as everything EONI asked for, Royal mail delivered.
LM thanked CC and said any issues raised with CC were rectified.
DM Wished to go on record and pay particular thanks to Rachel Winham and the Panel agreed.

KR thanked and congratulated CC and the Royal Mail team, recognising that the experience in Northern Ireland was a positive one and less challenging than other parts of the U.K.

f. Polling Day

CH discussed the code of conduct of campaigners reiterating the aim will be for parties to get a consensus on the latest version of the code at the October panel meeting.

DM said in terms of polling places this UKPGE was challenging because there were some concerns around access to schools given summer school closures and availability of, building supervisors to ensure access. 
It was acknowledged that some polling places are not ideally suited for elderly/disabled voters, but EONI is restricted in terms of building availability and endeavour to do the best with what is available.
DM confirmed that he has made the difficulty of accessing absent votes abundantly clear to the Northern Ireland Office. The usual model in NI is for people to use polling stations but in GB a quarter of voters use absent votes.
KR said the issue of accessibility of absent votes was raised several times with the NIO and a rethink on what can be improved should be done.
SL stated her party did not experience operational issues on polling day however raised concerns about the conduct of some party activists at polling stations which some voters had said made them feel frightened. This concern was acknowledged, and CH said if voters had concerns about intimidation, then they should contact the police.

SL did mention that polling staff resolved issues as best they could, but it felt rules differed at different stations.
RM suggested that this could in part be due to the confidence levels of the polling staff.
JM also suggested that the difference of physical environment of each station could blur lines on what is acceptable at each station. Where can they stand etc.
SL suggested that the parties will need to promote the code to all party activists and make them aware of their obligations.

g. RNIB

TS Explained how the main work carried out by RNIB, and stakeholders was to produce a guide on accessibility for the visually impaired so they could vote independently and in secret. The guide gave users an idea of what to expect and what is available to them regarding reasonable adjustments and solutions to vote. The guide also gave advice on registration and absent vote applications including deadlines. RNIB are hoping to produce another guide ahead of the next Northern Ireland Assembly election.
RNIB carried out a new survey, about a month after the election, and have some initial results.
Regarding EONI’s telephone line on polling day (which provided an audio version of each ballot paper), initial results indicate three quarters of NI respondents did not know about it. However nearly half who had heard about it, did use it and it helped them to vote independently and in secret. Unfortunately, the people who did not know about it are likely to be the ones who would benefit from it most. as They are likely to be harder to reach as they could be those who are already “digitally excluded.”
Most of those who did hear about the service, heard about it online or on social media.
RNIB would be keen to continue to work with EONI/EC.
KR agreed that the Commission would be keen to further the partnership.

TS confirmed that he will share the survey results when available.
KR requested physical copies too and would like to circulate those to the parties.
TS confirmed that RNIB will provide the report ahead of the next NIAPP meeting.
TM mentioned that the UUP tried it is best to facilitate partially sighted voters but there were difficulties due to the short notice of the election. The UUP would like to work with RNIB if possible, to provide manifestos in a range of formats.
TS agreed that it was a tight turnaround and reminded the panel that RNIB have a transcription service that can advise on and produce some accessible material for the visually impaired. RNIB could help with making sure parties' websites are screen reader compatible etc. Parties are improving in this regard.
DM mentioned that Democracy club is a UK wide organisation and suggests that it might be an option to engage with them on developing a UK wide telephone audio service like that currently provided by EONI. A singular service could build momentum, and the existence of a single presence would reach further.
TS agreed that a singular UK wide service would be of benefit.

h. The Count

DM explained that EONI initially planned for 2 count centres however the Eikon Exhibition Centre was not available on 4 July. It remains the count centre of choice if possible. Doubtful votes in Belfast could have been quicker but everything ran smoothly enough, and DM was content with how it went.
SLG referred to the challenge a count provides with the geographical infrastructure in Northern Ireland, especially getting ballot boxes from remote areas.
DM said all the counts had new management teams running them, EONI used Council Chief Executives as Deputy returning offices and this along with other support from council staff meant counts worked well. 
DM noted that over several years EONI staffing numbers had been cut from about 60 to 20 employees. EONI would struggle to run an election without the councils’ input. Council staff were a significant help.
CH agrees that resilience is important, and council Chief Executives are a welcome help.

i. Spending and reporting

RM explained how the Commission ran one pre-election seminar and followed this with ongoing support via email and phone.
SL commended RM’s patience in assisting the Alliance party and commented that guidance on spending and donation rules has improved which helps.
There was some discussion about weekly donation and loan reporting in the run up to the election, but no NI parties had reported any. CH noted the increased donation reporting threshold for parties (£11,180), and the potential impact on transparency from the public’s perspective, expressing concern that less donations were now reportable and publishable. 

5.1 David Marshall give a presentation to the group including

a. Am I Registered / DRN – planned improvements

Some improvements are to be made to the “Am I registered/DRN” service on the website. A Northern Ireland specific address finder will be added and anyone searching/requesting a DNR on behalf of another person will have to make a declaration confirming they have permission of that person. Alongside this there will be a refinement of coding which will allow for some name variations to pass through without issue, for example Mac Neill / MacNeill.

b. Electoral ID Cards reform

DM explained that Electoral ID cards were routinely being requested for purposes other than the intended purpose of proof of identity when voting (where a voter has no other acceptable form of photographic ID). There was the potential for the cards to be used for fraudulent purposes when they are acquired for other purposes.
EONI is intending to move to a fully online service for applications for Electoral ID cards. The counter process, only available in one location, will be amended to mirror the current postal application service. Passport and driving licence will be removed from the list of acceptable forms of ID needed to apply for an Electoral ID card. This is because both are already acceptable forms of ID when voting, therefore negating the need for an Electoral ID card. Wording “for electoral purposes only” would be added to the card.
A new online application form will hopefully be up and running around Christmas time.

c. New EONI website

A new website is in development and the panel was asked to email [email protected] if they had suggestions they would like to see implemented. The new website should go live around Christmas.

d. EU electors – Elections Act review

Around 1000 EU Nationals resident in NI before 31 December 2020 will be written to for them to confirm registration details. This will be done in the next few weeks.

e. Canvass

There are about 100,000 non-responding electors carried over from the canvass who by law will be removed from the electoral register in December 2024, unless there is a change to the legislation. DM encouraged he parties to raise this with the Northern Ireland Office to have this amended.
CH highlighted that we expect the NIO to share draft legislation on the canvass shortly. 

a. Campaign expenditure returns for the UKPGE reporting spending of 250k or below – must be submitted by 4 October 2024 
b. Campaign expenditure returns for the UKPGE reporting spending over 250k must be submitted by 4 January 2025 

a.    Tuesday 8 October 
b.    Tuesday 28 January
 

CH reminded the panel that the Commission’s election report is due end of October/November. There will also be a report on Voter ID in GB.

KR Informed the panel that the October NIAPP will have Commissioner John Pullinger in attendance and potentially Chief Executive Dr Vijay Rangarajan if schedules allow. They were both set to attend the July NIAPP which was postponed ahead of the UKPGE.

KR then ended the meeting asking the parties to join her in acknowledging the tremendous work that both EONI and EC teams had put into the smooth running of the election to which the parties concurred.