The Election Law Channel Part of LibDemVoice

The Electoral Commission, the UK elections watchdog, is urging people not to use a paid-for service to register to vote.

The independent elections watchdog has contacted ‘UK Electoral Roll’ after it was alerted to the company offering a £30-a-time ‘assisted service’ to complete customers’ electoral roll registrations.

The company also uses a £1.53 a minute premium rate number to take customer questions.

Alex Robertson, Director of Communications, said:

This service is …

Are you standing in the local elections in May?

If so, you need to be aware of a change in the guidance about nominations and the new nomination form. If you do not return the form correctly you may be disqualified.

The regulation is:
a candidate must return the entire consent to nomination form which includes copies of the relevant legislation by the close of nominations for their nomination to be valid
So when you return your nomination form you must send back the 5 pages of legislation, as well as the consent form.

From the Law Commission’s website:
We have commenced work on reforming electoral law.  We expect to open a consultation in late 2014.  A report with recommendations to Government will be published in summer 2015…

The twin aims of the project are to ensure, first, that electoral laws are presented within a rational, modern legislative framework, governing all elections and referendums under statute; and second, that the law governing the conduct of …

The Electoral Commission has just published the results of its research into how individual electoral registration has been working in Northern Ireland since its introduction there in 2002. The conclusion? An annual canvass must be kept.

“Former Tory Minister Michael Mates is being probed for alleged electoral fraud over his attempt to become one of David Cameron’s new police commissioners” – Daily Mirror

Here’s an interesting twist to the tale of Lee Barron, the latest Labour Police Commissioner candidate who has had to pull out for a previous conviction.

This has come to light too late in the day for him to actually pull out of the election, so his name will still be on the ballot paper with the Labour Party’s name and logo next to it. If he’s elected, …

PoliticsHome reports:
Labour peer Lord Hart has just tabled an amendment to the Electoral Registration Bill which would have another major impact on the timetable of the Coalition’s plans to cut seat numbers.

The amendment, which seeks to amend a clause in Section 10 of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, declares that the Boundary Commissions reviews will not take place until….2018. Yes, you read that right, 2018.

“There has recently been a rise in concerns about the quality of elections in the UK and electoral administrators have commonly been blamed for making administrative errors or not planning properly for elections.”

MPs who suffer mental health problems will benefit from the government’s decision to back a Bill going through Parliament.

The panel, consisting of cross-party councillors and representatives, will gather evidence at five public hearings across the borough.

If I were to move, I would be quite happy to let the gas company, the TV Licensing authority, the local council’s tax department, the electoral registration services and many others know, all in one go.

Lee Barron, the Labour candidate for the new post, has revealed how is prepared to refuse to stand down as a magistrate before the election, which will be held in November.

Alan Charles has now joined Bob Ashford in standing down as a Labour candidate for November’s Police and Crime Commissioner elections due to a youthful brush with the law.

It is absurd that he can’t stand. It is an absurdity that Parliament deliberately decided to enact, for the ban does not arise from unintended side effects of another measure or from poor drafting. Instead, it was a deliberate decision.

Earlier this month Harrow Council caught the headlines for its new electoral registration system:
Harrow Council has become the first local authority in the country to take its electoral registration online.

As authorities across the country contact residents to ensure their details are added to the electoral register, Harrow will be asking people to respond to the annual canvass online.

The council said residents would be able confirm details “at the click of a button”, avoiding “cumbersome paper forms”.

Previously we reported how a block of votes for Labour candidate Paul Penlington were wrongly counted as being for similarly named Conservative rival Allan Pennington in the Prestatyn North ward count this May.

The High Court has now ordered a recount:

Interesting news from Ireland on the long-running question of male dominance of elected Parliamentary posts:
GENDER QUOTAS are set to become law after the Electoral Amendment (Political Funding) Bill 2011 passed all stages in the Dáil yesterday.

The legislation, which has yet to be signed by the President, will halve State funding to parties unless 30 per cent of their candidates at the next general election are women. This figure will rise to 40 per cent at subsequent general elections…

Woking Borough Council (WBC) will appear at the High Court later this month after an application was made to declare an election result invalid.

This week the Cabinet Office has published its detailed implementation plan for the introduction of individual electoral registration in England, Scotland and Wales.

Something a little longer for the weekend – a talk explaining how the British electoral system works, and in particular why some parties need more votes to get a winning number of seats than other parties.

The last few days have been busy ones for the Electoral Commission, with most of the headlines caught by their report into when election counts should take place (overnight or the next day).

The Cabinet Office has called for greater use of Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) across the public sector, to support the move towards individual electoral registration (IER)

The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body agreed to uphold complaints received about adverts placed by Rob Gibson MSP on the grounds that the adverts breached the guidance on the use of parliamentary resources.

The European Court of Human Rights has said individual governments can decide how to implement a ban on convicted prisoners voting.

Council chief executives would only be paid as returning officers for work they do outside their normal office hours under proposals from the Welsh government.

Voters had to take some care when voting in Prestatyn North on May 3rd, as the Labour candidate was called Paul Penlington and the Conservative Allan Pennington. But the council’s counting staff did not take the same care when it came to the count.

The plans have been through an extensive pre-legislative scrutiny process, including some of the best cross-party forensic examination of details by a Commons committee I’ve seen. Quite rightly therefore the published Bill includes some significant changes of detail which reflect those issues.

Milton Keynes Liberal Democrats are asking the police to investigate campaign leaflets put out during this year’s council elections which attacked both Lib Dem and Labour councillors for their views on providing space for Travellers.

Allegations of proxy vote fraud and intimidation by the local MP are being investigated in Hyndburn.

Parliamentary by-election timetables with be lengthened, Returning Officers face losing pay for under-performance and postal voters will be better informed about problems in future.