Electoral Administration Bill

moved Amendment No. 63:"Page 37, line 15, leave out from ““may”” to end of line 17 and insert ““attend””" The noble Baroness said: My Lords, in speaking to the amendment I would like to speak to Amendments Nos. 64 to 82 and Amendments Nos. 127, 129, 131, 140, 141 and 143, which are consequential to the main amendments. All of these are amendments to the provisions in the Bill which introduce a system of electoral observation into UK electoral law. As noble Lords may be aware, the UK is a member of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, whose office, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, has responsibility for sending teams of international observers to elections. However, the UK itself has previously had no official method for international or domestic observers to attend election proceedings with the UK. UK Governments have received criticism for this from other member states of the OSCE, and from the OSCE itself. Clause 33 gives legal effect to recommendations of the Electoral Commission and other electoral observation experts, such as the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. It was intended to bring the UK into line with many newer democracies by giving independent electoral observers the right to observe proceedings and working practices, and to bring greater transparency to the electoral system, in line with international electoral practice. However, the UK Government have received representations that suggested the provisions of Clause 33 did not in fact reflect the legislation of other states, and did not go far enough to ensure that our elections could be observed freely and objectively. We have accepted these arguments, and therefore have tabled the following amendments. Amendments Nos. 63 to 65 remove the requirement for representatives of the Electoral Commission to apply for the permission of a returning officer to observe proceedings at an election or of a counting officer to observe proceedings at a referendum. As part of the removal of the above requirement, observers should not have to inform electoral administrators of the places they intend to observe, or the time they will arrive, but will be subject to any existing enactments that regulate attendance at election proceedings. Amendments Nos. 66, 67, and 68 make changes similar to Amendments Nos. 56 to 58, but in respect of the Electoral Commission representatives’ rights to observe the working practices of election officials. For example, the day-to-day activities of an elections office during the annual canvass period. Amendments Nos. 69 to 73 remove the requirement of accredited individual observers to apply for the permission of the returning officer or counting officer to attend proceedings at the issue or receipt of postal ballot papers, proceedings at the poll and proceedings at the count. They also remove the ability of an election official to revoke their permission at any time, with reasons. Any removal of accreditation would be by the Electoral Commission, giving reasons for that revocation. As part of the removal of the above requirement, observers should not have to inform electoral administrators of the places they intend to observe, or the time they will arrive. Amendments Nos. 74 to 78 make similar provisions to Amendments Nos. 69 to 73 for organisations that wish to send official observers. Once an organisation has been accredited, it may send delegates to election proceedings without the need to apply for the permission of the relevant electoral officer. There are two caveats to these amendments: first, the Electoral Commission may specify a maximum number of delegates that may attend any single election proceeding; and, secondly, the Electoral Commission may revoke an organisation’s observer accreditation, giving reasons. Amendment No. 79 adds new Section 6DA, which provides local electoral officers with certain safeguards to protect the effective and proper conduct of election proceedings from either an unintended set of circumstances arising because of the presence of observers, or from a deliberate act of an observer to abuse or disrupt the electoral process. In particular, an electoral officer may limit the number of observers allowed to attend an election proceeding at any one time, or revoke an observer’s entitlement to be present at an election proceeding should that observer misconduct himself; for example, by deliberately disrupting proceedings. These safeguards do not affect any other power an electoral officer may already have to maintain order at election proceedings. Amendment No. 79 is needed to provide electoral officers with the powers to protect the integrity and proper conduct of the electoral process. Without such safeguards, election proceedings could be open to abuse by an observer whose motives for attending may turn out not to be the legitimate, objective scrutiny of elections. Amendment No. 80 removes paragraphs (c) and (d) from Section 6E, which provided that the commission’s code of practice for observers and electoral officers should contain guidance to election officials as to the granting and revoking of an observer’s permission to attend election proceedings. The previous amendments I have described mean that it is no longer necessary to do that. This amendment replaces these paragraphs with new paragraphs 6E(2)(c), (d) and (da), which provide that the code of practice should include guidance to electoral officers about the exercise of their powers to maintain order at election proceedings and revoke an observer’s entitlement to attend, as indicated by Amendment No. 72. It also provides that guidance should be included about the other powers electoral officers may have to regulate attendance at election proceedings. Amendment No. 81 inserts a reference to new Section 6DA into proposed Section 6E(7) of the Bill. It sets out who should have regard to the code when exercising their functions. Amendment No. 82 simply replaces a reference to ““returning officers”” within the list of persons who should have regard to the code of practice with a reference to relevant officers, as listed under 6DA. Amendments Nos. 127, 129, 131, 140, 141 and 143 make the necessary consequential changes to the rules for the conduct of local elections in England and Wales, thereby making consequential changes to the observer provisions in Schedule 1 of the Bill. I hope that that explanation gives noble Lords enough detail about what the amendments are seeking to do, and I hope that noble Lords will feel that they are appropriate and able to support them. I beg to move.