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ERS News
Election watchdog needs teeth
Published: Thursday, May 20th 2010
Election night failures require stronger Commission
The Electoral Reform Society has commented on the Electoral Commission’s interim report on polling day problems.
The Society’s Chief Executive Dr Ken Ritchie said:
“It’s outrageous that, when we are having such difficulty persuading people of the importance of voting, some were unable to vote because of the failings of election administrators.
“The Electoral Commission has done well in producing a report on what went wrong within two weeks of the election. Politicians now need to demonstrate the same urgency in resolving the problems.
“A change in the law to allow people to vote provided they have joined the queue before the close of poll is sensible – it is the practice in many other countries. This should not be controversial and should be enacted as soon as possible.
“Getting returning officers to improve their act is more difficult. The Commission can set standards and assess performance, but it needs to be able to hold electoral administrators to account. If administrators have ignored guidance, then there should be penalties to pay.
“Yet again we have another report that identifies the lack of accountability of returning officers. The Government needs to resolve this issue, and give the Commission the teeth to determine who can and who cannot conduct an election.
“The great majority of electoral administrators do a magnificent job. We must make sure the reputation of their profession is not damaged by the incompetence of a minority.”
The Commission’s report is available for download here:
Contacts
For more information, comment or interviews please contact Ashley Dé on 07968791684 or Dr Ken Ritchie on 07754165551
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