Skip to main content

Electoral Arrangements

Volume 450: debated on Tuesday 17 October 2006

24. What assessment she has made of the impact of requiring voters to sign for receipt of their ballot paper. (94027)

Where it has been tested in election pilots, the impact has generally been positive. The requirement has not resulted in long queues in polling stations.

Salford city council has a good record in electoral administration, but it has some concerns. Members of the council wanted me to ask the Minister about paragraph 75 of Schedule 1 to the Electoral Administration Act 2006. Does she believe that the requirement to sign for ballot papers could lead to queues building up in polling stations, which might deter voters? Secondly, as comprehensive checks cannot be made on individual signatures, is there still merit in having people sign for a ballot paper?

First, I congratulate my hon. Friend and her constituents on having the highest level of registration—92 per cent.—in the Salford local authority area. I hope that other constituencies around the country will attempt to reach that same level of registration. As to signing at polling stations, there was no indication in the pilots that queues were forming and I do not believe that they are likely to result in the future. However, there is a requirement for returning officers to be aware of the problem and to make plans to deal with a heavier turnout, perhaps in a general election.

As for keeping the signatures, while people will sign at the polling station, if there is any question of fraud or impersonation thereafter, the police carrying out the investigation will be able not just to look at the signature used at the polling station but to seek to verify other signatures such as the one on a credit card. They will also be able to use specialist signature checking expertise to support that task. I am therefore confident that the system now in place will provide greater security to the electoral process and allow people to feel confident about the integrity of the system. At the same time, the system will ensure that registration reaches the level that it should. It will help to ensure that the 3.5 million people who are currently not on the register soon will be, so that their voices can also be heard.