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European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2009

I, too, thank the noble Baroness the Lord President for introducing this. Our concern about the legislation is about the timing. It is a complicated order, coming quite close to elections. We understood that it was government policy not to make legislative changes for elections within six months prior to a polling day, yet we are being asked to pass this less than two months before the publication of the notice of the election. Like others, however, we welcome this order, which makes sensible provisions to improve the conduct of European elections in Northern Ireland. We particularly welcome the provisions regulating the release of information by presiding officers on the number of ballot papers issued on election day and by allowing the returning officer to direct how and when that information will be released. This provides clarity to presiding officers, party officials and all those involved in the running of election day in Northern Ireland. We also welcome the introduction of smart passes and photographic provisional driving licences in the lists of documents to verify a voter’s identity on election day. While it is important to have in place proper protection against electoral fraud in Northern Ireland, we must do all we can to ensure that no one is disenfranchised. The order should be helpful in both those respects.