WalesOnline reports:
THE Electoral Commission expressed its “regret” yesterday as it admitted providing the wrong information to one of the Liberal Democrat AMs disqualified from office …
Mr Roberts said he was given incorrect information by the Electoral Commission, whose official guidance for candidates said he could not stand if, at the time of the nomination, he held an office which was mentioned in the National Assembly for Wales (Disqualification) Order 2006.
The Order that the Electoral Commission referred to was not the most up-to-date, and did not include the Valuation Tribunal for Wales as one of the bodies. That was added last year.
Additionally, powerpoint presentations given by the Commission at the party conferences earlier this year referred to the 2006 document.
Yesterday, after the CPS announced there would be no charges, a spokesman said: “We were told by the Welsh Government of the updated Assembly disqualification order on March 10 and our guidance in English was updated the very next day. There was an error in that we did not update the guidance in Welsh.
“We regret that and we have reviewed our processes to make sure that it does not happen again.”
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Reporting Back: Full Council
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5 Comments
In that case, if the Electoral Commission have put their hands up and said “We made a mistake” then there should be nothing to prevent Aled taking his seat in the Assembly (unless Labour want to play party politics)
The Welsh Assembly (and Parliament come to that) shouldn’t be able to vote to ignore the law just when they find it convenient.
Would not the proper procedure be for him to remain barred from office but for him to sue the backside off the Electoral Commission for loss of earnings? Or will they pretend they had no duty of care towards him?
Harry, we’re talking Labour, that’s what they’re likely to do. And Hywel, there’s a piece of legislation that says that the Assembly can reverse disqualifications.
I hope that both Aled and John take their positions in the Assembly following the vote next week!
“And Hywel, there’s a piece of legislation that says that the Assembly can reverse disqualifications.”
I know. I just don’t think there should be! 🙂
(or at least there should be some equivalent for other elected positions.)