Reform has 'undermined integrity of elections'
Tories say more emphasis needed on tackling voter fraud than turnout
Thursday, 15, Jun 2006 12:00
The Electoral Commission should spend less time worrying about voter turnout and focus more on tackling electoral fraud, the Conservatives have said.
They warned the introduction of all-postal votes in some areas and their subsequent withdrawal over fears of widespread vote-rigging was a classic example of how the watchdog had got its priorities wrong.
"In any democracy, a higher turnout is worthless if the integrity or veracity of the result itself could be called into question," said shadow constitutional affairs secretary Oliver Heald.
The party says the commission should also stop working so closely with government on managing elections, and instead take a more arms' length approach to enable it to properly scrutinise ministers' actions.
"We are concerned that the commission has positioned itself as not just a strategic regulator and auditor, but also as an active administrator in the running of elections," it says in evidence submitted to a parliamentary inquiry.
"We believe that this creates a fundamental conflict of interest, as it is unable to review and regulate its own decisions in an unbiased manner. In addition, by acting as an agent of government, it is less able to be critical of decisions taken by government."
The committee on standards in public life has this week begun taking evidence for its inquiry into how political parties are funded, the electoral system and voter engagement, issues which have had an increased profile in the wake of the loans-for-peerages row.
Speaking at the first hearing on Tuesday, committee chairman Alistair Graham warned that any doubts about the integrity of the electoral system "have the potential to critically undermine the health of our democracy".
As well as submitting written evidence on behalf of the Tories, Mr Heald will be appearing in person before the MPs today, along with Liberal Democrat president Simon Hughes and Labour party chairwoman Hazel Blears.
Ahead of the hearing, he warned that the constant efforts to "modernise" the electoral system since 1997 have created "institutional instability" in the electoral system, and compromised Britain's traditional reputation for fair elections.
Last year, six Labour councillors in Birmingham were found guilty of postal fraud during the 2004 council elections, in an example of vote-rigging that elections commissioner Richard Mawrey said would "disgrace a banana republic".
The Conservatives are now calling for the Electoral Commission to stop its work in finding new ways to improve turnout, such as extended polling station opening hours, to focus on combating fraud.
"Rather than condemning our ‘Victorian’ electoral system, the government and the Electoral Commission would be better to focus on preventing the electoral practices of the rotten boroughs of the 18th and early 19th centuries becoming the hallmark of the 21st century," Mr Heald said.
The party also wants greater scrutiny of the commission through the speaker's committee and more time to debate the watchdog's role and activities in the annual debates in both Houses of Parliament.