Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

The noble Lord is inviting the electoral registration officers to write to me and clearly, if they do, I shall make what they say available. The schedule states: "““A ballot paper on which the voter makes any mark which … is clearly intended to indicate a particular preference for a particular candidate””—" I think I would include within that putting an X or even a tick against a person’s name— "““shall be treated in the same way as if the appropriate number … had been marked””." I hope that the wording there is clear but obviously the electoral registration officers may wish to clarify that. I suspect that it will be a while before we get to Schedule 10, although perhaps not as long as might otherwise be the case.