Armed Forces: Voting Arrangements
Lord Garden asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are satisfied with all aspects of the arrangements made for Armed Forces personnel and their families to be able to vote on 5 May.
Whether they are satisfied with all aspects of the arrangements made for Armed Forces personnel and their families to be able to vote on 5 May.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson):
My Lords, the level of publicity and information given to the service community about voting in the run-up to the May elections was far in excess of anything that we have done previously. We are satisfied that service personnel had sufficient information available to enable them to register to vote, but we are committed to working with the Electoral Commission to improve service voting processes and procedures where we can do so.
My Lords, I am grateful for the Minister's Answer, although I am slightly confused: if it is all perfect then, obviously, you will not do much with the Electoral Commission. At least the Prime Minister, when speaking on the "Jeremy Vine Show" on 15 April, accepted that there was a problem and said that it would all be sorted out. Can the Minister tell us what extra measures were taken after the Prime Minister's statement to ensure that it became possible for servicemen to use postal votes?
Lord Drayson:
My Lords, a number of actions were undertaken by the Ministry of Defence after the announcement of the general election. They included the issuing by the British Forces Post Office of an instruction to all forces post offices worldwide on the handling of postal votes, together with a sample of distinct envelope markings for recognition thereof.
As regards the noble Lord's point about actions taken, it is right that every effort should be made to ensure that our Armed Forces have the opportunity to exercise their democratic right. We have had a very positive meeting between the MoD and the Electoral Commission to identify what actions can be taken learning from the experience that we have had.
Lord Astor of Hever:
My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the electoral reform Bill and the Armed Forces Bill, both of which are promised later this Session, will include the necessary powers to prevent the problems that the noble Lord, Lord Garden, mentioned happening again?
My Lords, I hope that we will be able to take action ahead of that. We are looking at the possibility of whether we can make it easier for service personnel to vote by the issuing annually of a combined information leaflet and registration form. We are also looking at the possibility of carrying out a survey. That is in train at the moment. I will report to the House the progress that we make on that.
My Lords, what current arrangements are there to enable members of Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service and other public servants abroad to vote in elections?
My Lords, I do not have a briefing on that, but my understanding is that, common to other persons abroad, they have the option of registering as an overseas voter or as a personal voter. They have the means to do so either by use of a proxy or by use of a postal vote.
My Lords, what has been the reaction of commanders in Her Majesty's forces to the voting? Have there been many complaints or is there satisfaction? What has been the immediate reaction?
My Lords, my understanding is that we have not had any direct representations to the Ministry of Defence by members of our Armed Forces. However, we are aware of concerns about everything possible being done to allow our armed service personnel—given the sacrifices that they have to make in the fulfilment of their duty—to have every opportunity to vote.
My Lords, are the Government in a position yet to say what proportion of servicemen abroad took advantage of the postal ballot and what the turnout was? If not, surely they should be able to do so in the very near future.
My Lords, following the passing of the Representation of the People Act 2000, which came into force in February 2001, our Armed Forces personnel have had a number of additional options for voting: by proxy, by postal vote or in person. The only form of voting which has continued to be measured has been that of service personnel. There is no measure whereby we can see how many people have undertaken to register to vote either by proxy or by post. However, a straw poll recently reported in Soldier magazine indicated that approximately half of those who registered to vote have sought to do so by postal vote. But I stress that those are very early data on a small sample, which I raise only to give the noble Lord some indication of the view at the moment.
My Lords, will my noble friend look in particular at the problems faced by young servicemen and women in getting to know about voting procedures and how to register? I had the good fortune to spend some time on HMS "Liverpool" immediately after the election, but I do not think that I came across a single young rating, male or female, who had any idea of how it is possible to get on to the electoral register. It certainly appears that something needs to be done to improve the position.
My Lords, my noble friend is absolutely right. Everything that can be done should be done to improve and encourage young people's awareness of the voting options open to them. A huge amount has been done. Some 100,000 leaflets were distributed ahead of the general election. Indeed, more was done this time than in the past. I should stress that given that the Act requires people now to register annually, we are looking at ways to improve the process by issuing a combined information leaflet and registration form. We are considering that possibility in conjunction with the Electoral Commission.
My Lords—
My Lords, we are in the 16th minute and it is only fair to leave enough time for the other Questions.
© Lords Hansard 6 June 2005