Electoral Administration Bill

There is also a debate going on in the local newspapers serving these communities, with frequent calls for regulation being made in letters to editors. They are not asking for regulation nationally. Indeed, our whole debate today arises from some court cases in just a few communities and some complaints from representatives of very small groups. Yet we are involved in a national roll-out simply to deal with a problem that arises only in certain small, individual areas. I live in the Lake District in Cumbria. Not for one moment do I believe that there is any corruption of the electoral system in Cumbria. As the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, observed the other day, there may well be cases of people voting in two different places if they have a second home, but if the system is not corrupt in Cumbria, why should everyone have to go into the whole exercise of filling in this form? Everyone has to fill in a form simply to resolve a problem that arises in only a few parts of the United Kingdom. We are going to spend tens of millions of pounds on this exercise, one that could be done equally well simply by concentrating far fewer resources in just one or two communities where there is a history of manipulation of the vote. Indeed, in my amendments, I think that I have set out the criteria regarding the conditions in which an order would be sought. Perhaps I may explain how my amendments would work.