News

Electoral Commission Sets Out Views On Taking Forward Gould Recommendations on 2007 Scottish elections

29 Nov 2007

The Commission asked leading international elections expert Ron Gould CM to carry out an independent review of the elections. In his report published last month, Mr Gould put forward a number of options and recommendations for how the administration of elections might be improved.

The Commission today echoed Mr Gould’s call for all those with a role in organising future elections to put the voters’ interests first. It agreed that:

• future Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections should not take place on the same day
• electoral legislation should be consolidated – something the Commission has been calling for since 2001. And there should be a six month cut-off for new electoral legislation before an election
• at future Scottish Parliament elections, the regional ballot paper should be printed on a separate sheet from the constituency ballot paper

In addition, the Commission said:

• it plans to set standards on the accessibility, design and usability of ballot papers, and there should be a formal consultation process for future ballot papers
• it will make recommendations for changes to the rules on party descriptions on ballot papers after it has finished consulting with political parties in January 2008
• there should be consultation with a view to introducing advance voting facilities at future elections in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK

The Commission also announced that it will be conducting a detailed and wide ranging examination of electoral administration structures and will consider how the options set out in the Gould report, for example for a Chief Returning Officer, might work in Scotland and in other parts of the UK.

Electoral Commissioner Sir Neil McIntosh, said:

“The Commission welcomes the recommendations put forward by Mr Gould and we will be taking a lead in working towards solutions. We will be bringing together all those involved in elections to consider ways that we can improve electoral administration. It is vital that the voter comes first,.”

-ends-

For further information please contact Lynne Veitch at Pagoda PR on 0131 556 0770