§ Mr. WATTasked the Lord Advocate whether his attention had been called to the great number of omissions from the parliamentary voters' roll in Scotland of the names of voters entitled to the franchise, many of them so entitled for many years on the same qualification; would he say who were responsible for these omissions; and would he introduce legislation or take other steps to make those responsible liable to some penalty for such omissions?
§ Mr. UREOne complaint only of the nature indicated in the question has reached me; and I have no reason to suppose that omissions of names from the Roll are numerous. The persons responsible may be either the assessor, or (in burghs) the town clerk, or (in counties) the sheriff clerk. The Registration Statutes provide that penalties be imposed for any wilful neglect or omissions on the part of these officials in the performance of their duties. Further legislation, therefore, seems unnecessary.