§ Ian LucasTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the proportion of ballot papers which were the product of forgery and were not counted in the(a) 2001 and (b) 1997 general elections. [32167]
§ Dr. WhiteheadWe are not aware that any forged papers were identified at either of these elections.
§ Ian LucasTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the official mark as a safeguard against electoral fraud; and what plans he has to introduce further safeguards. [32161]
§ Dr. WhiteheadAt least five of the applications for electoral pilots to take place at next May's local elections include proposals for alternatives to the official mark, including watermarked or bar-coded ballot papers. Should they be approved and go ahead, the pilots will be evaluated by the Electoral Commission. We, together with the commission, will consider any conclusions carefully.
§ Mr. HepburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what research he has undertaken into security and the prevention of ballot rigging in the evaluation of the feasibility of internet voting. [32090]
§ Dr. WhiteheadWe have jointly commissioned research by a team led by De Montfort university, into the potential barriers (among which are security issues) to electronic voting, including internet. Our partners include the Electoral Commission and the Local Government Association. We expect to publish the findings from this research by June 2002.
828WWe will be approving a number of pilot schemes of innovative electoral practices in the May 2002 local elections, which may include internet voting. The Electoral Commission will evaluate each pilot scheme to assess whether it met our criteria of making voting straightforward, efficient, accessible and secure. The reports will be published within three months of election date.