Proceeding contribution from Geraint Davies (Labour) in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 2 November 2010. It occurred during Debate on bill on Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill.
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill
My hon. Friend is completely right on the Government's policy, but there will also be a problem with the situation on the ground. For example, the chair of the Association of Electoral Administrators said that"““there is…capacity for the polling station staff to be confused as to which ballot paper should go to which elector.””" Why is that? The chair told the Committee that in Newport, there were 1,000 European voters, who were not eligible for all of the ballots. In some ballots, some people had postal votes, but in others they did not. Someone would come to the polling station and say, ““I want my vote,”” but they had already been sent a postal vote. In Wales, for proportionality, we vote for a list for the Assembly, but we also vote for a local Assembly Member. In addition, we might vote for a UK MP and in the AV referendum. The aggregate turnout will therefore be much higher. People may say, ““That's great. That's good for democracy,”” but if all those people turn up at a facility that is expecting fewer of them, and if the arrangements are as complex as I described, there will be more queuing. People will have to find different boxes of different colours and all the rest of it, so there is quite a lot of scope for major confusion that could undermine the democratic process that we all love.
Secondary information
- Type
- Proceeding contribution
- Reference
- 517 c815
- Session
- 2010-12
- Chamber / Committee
- House of Commons chamber
- Subjects
- Boundary commissions Constituency size Alternative vote Absent voting Devolution Elections Distribution of seats General elections Northern Ireland Public consultation Referendums Public inquiries Scotland Voting behaviour Voting methods Reform Wales Scottish Parliament Ballot papers
- Legislation
- Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill 2010-12
- Link
- View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk
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- 2023-12-15 13:37:39 +0000
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