§ 23. Mr. Chris Bryant (Rhondda)What assessment the commission has made of the likely effect of all-postal ballots for referendums. [101629]
§ Mrs. Angela Browning (Tiverton and Honiton)On this occasion, I have been asked to reply on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Mr. Viggers), who apologises for not being in the House this afternoon. The Electoral Commission has made no such assessment.
§ Mr. BryantI thank the hon. Lady for that non-answer. I wonder whether she has noticed that a referendum in Malta this weekend had a 92 per cent. turnout and a very successful yes vote, about which all Labour Members are clearly delighted, despite several Conservative Members of the European Parliament campaigning against the yes vote for Malta to join the European Union. Would not it he a good idea for the Electoral Commission to consider the effect of postal ballots in advance of the euro referendum that we are likely to have later this year, so that it can recommend an all-postal ballot and we can get a really good yes result?
§ Mrs. BrowningIf I can add flesh to the answer that I gave earlier to the hon. Gentleman, he will be aware that currently there is no provision in law for any UK national or regional referendum to be conducted by all-postal ballot. For mayoral referendums, the law provides that an all-postal ballot may be used at the discretion of the local authority. If he has an interest in such a ballot for other types of election, such as European elections, he may care to try asking a question of the Lord Chancellor's Department, which will be in a position to decide whether the House could make such a change in the law.