§ Mr. Denis MurphyTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average voter turnout in the May 2003 local 615W government elections was (a) where only traditional voting methods were used and (b) where postal ballots were piloted. [126451]
§ Phil HopeThe Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not hold the information requested centrally and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Electoral Commission published their evaluation of the 2003 local electoral pilots on 31 July. According to their report, the average voter turnout across all local elections in 2003, including results from elections held on a pilot basis, was 34.9 per cent. The average turnout at elections where all-postal voting pilots were held was 49.4 per cent.