§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to(a) safeguard the secrecy of the ballot, (b) protect voters from intimidation and (c) ensure that postal votes are completed by the voter to whom they belong, in postal ballots. [59174]
§ Ms Yvette CooperI have been asked to reply. We recognise that it is essential to make sure that new methods of voting do not undermine the integrity and security of the election process. Safeguards in relation to the postal voting have been in place for many years, and we have no reason to believe that they do not operate satisfactorily in all postal ballots. The Electoral Commission is evaluating the local authority pilot schemes that ran all postal ballots in the May 2002 local and mayoral elections, including issues such as security and privacy. The Commission will publish its report on 1 August 2002.