Electoral Administration Bill

I concur with my hon. Friend. The Minister referred to minimum standards. May I respectfully ask that minimum standards be high, transparent and readily understood by elected representatives and the public? Local authority electoral administrative performance should be made available to MPs and the public and should be in league table format. Successful electoral registration officers and departments should be recognised, while there should be sanctions against failing authorities and departments. There should either be financial sanctions or responsibility should be handed over to a more successful neighbouring authority or an outside agency. Democracy is too important to be left to a council with a devil-may-care attitude to the basic building block of all elections, be they local, national or European—the electoral register.