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WQ.260/2021
WRITTEN QUESTION TO
THE CHAIR OF THE PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 24th MAY 2021 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 1st JUNE 2021
Question
In the light of the U.K. Government's intention to make identity checks compulsory for voting, will the Chair state –
- the current rules for voting in this regard and whether any changes are under consideration for the 2022 election;
- what measures, if any, are in place to ensure that the Electoral Register in force for the 2022 election is accurate; and
- what changes to accessing the Electoral Register, if any, are under consideration or discussion with other departments?
Answer
PPC is currently responding to the recommendations contained within the CPA Election Observers Mission (EOM) Report published after the elections in 2018. The report included 18 recommendations to improve the current electoral system. As part of this work, PPC is due to propose a number of amendments to the Public Elections (Jersey) Law 2002. In answer to the specific points:
- The Public Elections Law provides the rules on voting. Article 44(2) requires that those eligible to vote by post must complete and sign a declaration of identity provided by the Judicial Greffier.
The Law does not contain any other rules around identity checks, however, Article 32(1) requires the Autorisé or Adjoint to give a ballot paper to someone if they are of the view that he or she is entitled to vote at that polling place. In that regard, the Autorisé or Adjoint may require some form of ID in order to confirm the voter's name on the electoral register and to ensure the ballot paper is given to the correct person.
Within the legislative changes due to be put forward as part of the Committee's work on the EOM Recommendations, there are no plans to alter this position.
- The electoral registers are the responsibility of the electoral administrators of each parish and PPC has no role in assessing their accuracy
- PPC is overseeing a project to introduce automatic electoral registration, using data already held by the States for other purposes such as social security. The Greffier of the States is the Senior Responsible Officer for the project which involves colleagues from Customer and Local Services, Modernisation and Digital and the Comité des Connétable s. Revised legislation is being drawn up and will be considered by PPC shortly. The technical project is coming to the end of a design phase and it will become clear shortly whether or not implementation before the 2022 election is feasible.