§ 5. Mr. David Jamesasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage proportion of the total votes cast in the recent Assembly elections was postal votes.
§ Mr. JamesIs not that figure eloquent testimony to the extraordinary care and skill exercised by the electoral officers in making certain that the election was absolutely and patently fair?
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeYes, it is. It is encouraging also that only about 1 per cent. of the postal ballots received for the Assembly election were rejected.
§ Mr. KilfedderDoes the action of the chief electoral officer in deleting "OHMS" from official electoral communications represent considered Government policy, and is this a further slip in the direction of getting rid of Royal symbols in Northern Ireland?
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeNo, Sir; my hon. Friend is making a mountain out of a molehill. OHMS envelopes were never used in the past for this purpose. All that happened was that a certain stock of envelopes was used, and it was quite inappropriate for "OHMS" to appear on them for this purpose.