Electoral Administration Bill

Of course I cannot cite any research evidence as to what vote fiddling there would be in relation to the clause, because the clause is not yet law. It is my hope that it will not become law, but we know that there was vote fiddling and widespread fraud in the 2004 Birmingham city council elections, and more than 200 votes were abused in Blackburn in 2002. My practical reasons for objecting to the clause, and indeed to the Liberal Democrat amendment, involve, first, postal votes and, secondly, the capacity of candidates to communicate with their electors. I intend to rely on the D-minus system to enumerate the days leading up to elections, whereby D minus one is the day before the poll and D minus 17 is the date of proclamation or issue of writ in a general election. Under the Government’s proposals, people would have to apply by D minus 11 to be on the register by D minus five. Under the Liberal Democrat proposals, people would have to apply by D minus 13 to be on the register by D minus seven. Under the proposals tabled by my hon. Friends on the Conservative Front Bench, people would have to apply by D minus 20 to be on the register by D minus 15. If people want a postal vote, they have to apply by D minus 11. They will be eligible to apply for a postal vote only if my amendment, or the proposal tabled by my Front-Bench colleagues, is agreed to. The second problem involves candidates communicating with their electors. The Royal Mail indicative timetable for the freepost, which I have in front of me, shows that the latest acceptable day for unaddressed items in the highlands, islands and rural areas is D minus 10. For addressed items, it is D minus seven. The latest day for addressed mail in any other part of the country is D minus three. That makes it practically impossible to get literature into the freepost, addressed from the printers to the addressing company, from the addressing company to the Royal Mail, and from the Royal Mail into the post, in time to communicate with electors. It is fundamental that candidates can communicate with electors. The clause, which is not, as far as I can see, recommended directly either by the Electoral Commission or the OPDM Committee, makes it too easy to do something, and thereby makes it too difficult for candidates and others to communicate with electors. There are 1,200 days in the average four-year parliamentary term during which someone can apply to be registered. It is a great pity if they can only apply in the three or four days after a general election is called.