§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions he has had on Her Majesty's Government's policy for increasing turnout at elections; and when he expects to issue proposals aimed at increasing turnout. [7123]
§ Dr. WhiteheadEarlier this month, I, together with the chairmen of the Electoral Commission and the Local Government Association, jointly invited local authorities to apply to run a wide range of innovative electoral pilot projects—including all-postal voting and on-line voting—to test new electoral procedures designed to increase the accessibility of voting and make it suit modern lifestyles more appropriately. Such changes to the method of voting should help to increase turnout, but only if, as the Electoral Commission has stated in its report on the 2001 general election,
voters also feel that the election is relevant to them and their vote matters".The Commission is examining the reason for low turnout and will be making recommendations which we will consider very carefully.