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All-postal voting challenge throws plan into doubt
Yorkshire Post - 13 February
2004
By Maggie Stratton
RADICAL plans to scrap the ballot box in favour of all-postal
voting across Yorkshire for this year's local and European elections were
last night plunged into doubt by a late challenge from the Tories and
Liberal Democrats.
The Government last month made a surprise announcement that the June 10
elections across this region would be postal-voting only.
The move, designed to increase turnout, has been privately
described by Labour insiders as a "deliberate dry run" by Deputy
Prime Minister John Prescott ahead of the October regional assemblies
all-postal referendum.
But polling watchdog the Electoral Commission specifically did not recommend
all-postal ballots across Yorkshire this year.
And yesterday, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats in the
House of Lords launched a challenge to the Government's plans for postal-only
voting in Yorkshire and the North West.
Plans for postal ballots in the North-East and the East Midlands, which
were approved by the Electoral Commission, are not being opposed.
But the changes have to be on the statute book well before
May to be in time for the run-up to June 10.
If a battle breaks out between the Lords and the Commons, and legislation
shuttles back and forth between the two Houses, the Government may have
to back down on the Yorkshire/North-West plans or lose the entire postal
ballot pilot project.
Tory regions spokesman David Curry last night vented his fury
at the Government's decision to press ahead with postal-only plans in
Yorkshire when electoral experts had not recommended them.
He said: "What's the point in having an independent Electoral Commission
if the Government just ignores its findings?
"The true key to tackling voter apathy involves addressing
the concerns of the people over the decaying NHS, falling school standards
and rising crime".
The Tories and Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment for the Lords
report stage of the European Parliamentary and Local Elections (Pilots)
Bill, due on February 23.
A Constitutional Affairs Department spokeswoman said that the Government
intended to push to keep the pilot in all four regions.
"We want to maximise the postal pilots exercise," she said.
She said the Government wanted to explore the potential of all- postal
voting for European elections and how it could be used to counter the
trend of declining participation in elections. The last Euro-election
in 1999 saw a turnout of just 23 per cent.
The Government originally backed Electoral Commission proposals for all-postal
voting experiments in the East Midlands and North East.
Both have only six local council elections this year and most authorities
in the North East trialled all-postal voting last year.
The North West and Yorkshire and the Humber regions, however, cover more
than 40 councils with elections this year, most of which have had no experience
of all-postal schemes.
© Yorkshire Post
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