Electoral Administration Bill

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for explaining the detail of her amendment. We have already made it clear that we have no intention of rolling out all-postal voting at this time as a default position for local elections. There may be instances where such ballots can be conducted effectively, without security concerns and with a clear benefit to turnout and thus the mandate of those elected. In order to consider whether there is a case for allowing an election to be conducted on an all-postal basis, it is necessary to ensure that pilots can be run to test and improve on the systems before any wider implementation. The Committee will know that in very specific areas, such as a local parish, from time to time local authorities have asked whether this is an appropriate way for them to conduct an election. I know that the amendment is probing in nature, but the difficulty is that it would prevent all-postal ballots being introduced for any pilot or election, including referendums. It might even include non-statutory elections such as that held recently to elect the new Conservative leader. I know that that is not at all what the noble Baroness seeks, but the amendment could have that impact. I thought that I should mention that on the way.