Agenda item - Question to the Leader from Councillor K.Thorpe

Agenda item

Question to the Leader from Councillor K.Thorpe

Minutes:

“As we slowly head towards the end of an unprecedented year of uncertainty, does the Leader agree that planning and preparing for universal postal voting in the 2021 local elections is a sensible preparation to undertake now to ensure elections can take place safely or at all in less than 9 months’ time?”

 

Answer

 

“Thank you for your question.

 

The council through its Elections team plans its activities very well in advance, in order to prepare for an efficient and well-run election. This is indeed an unprecedented year but any proposed changes to the current arrangements must be made by changes in the elections regulations.

 

Around the middle of May 2020, the Cabinet Office set up a programme to plan for a number of Local Government and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in 2021.

 

This included a Minister-led steering group and a policy-led working group. When setting up the Group, authorities were asked by the Cabinet Office to provide any comments on the working group options. Some comments were made around postal voting and these included concerns about paper contamination, scope for ‘all out’ postal voting, and changing the time for postal votes to be returned from 10pm on the day of an election, to a few days before.

 

The Cabinet Office have just advised (15 September 2020) that based on the information currently available, polls can be delivered safely and securely, and the risk of transmission substantially reduced, if COVID-19 secure guidelines are followed closely, and that authorities should not expect any kind of elections (including by-elections) to be able to take place before May 2021.

 

Further, they believe that there is no necessity for significant changes such as imposing an all-postal vote or changing polling days or times. The UK Government remains of the view that all-postal voting increases fraud risks, and removes choice from voters who wish to cast their vote in person.

 

The Cabinet Office have stated however that they will be considering smaller change to legislation to support electors with absent voting, but have not indicated what this will be, although an update is to be provided in due course.

 

We will be closely monitoring the situation concerning absent voting but until we know what the government decides concerning this, our preparations can only be limited.

 

We are aware that postal applications are on the increase and arrangements have already been made to purchase an extra scanner in order to cope with the expected increase in postal applications. A high number are normally applied for shortly before the deadline for an election.

 

Current planning and preparations we can take on absent voting are limited, until we have a decision from the Cabinet Office on any detailed changes.”

 

Councillor Thorpe in a supplementary question asked if the Leader was aware that following a trial of universal postal voting in 2003 in Stevenage and many other local authorities, the electoral commission actually recommended that this is how all elections should always be done with postal votes for everyone. If the Leader agrees if the government did decide to allow universal postal votes, it would remove the need for political parties to canvas door to door including care and sheltered housing. Something that usually starts to happen now, not next year surely this is a serious issue that requires definitive action now not something that could be left until next year. 

 

The Leader answered that it is down to the government guidance and government rules in terms of what we do. If there are postal voters, it may be better for some people to obtain postal votes to make the process better for themselves but I think the Council should wait and see the government guidance.