Electoral Administration Bill

As noble Lords know, under electoral law, EROs are already required to keep records of postal voters. In response to calls from the political parties, we intend through secondary legislation to allow the postal and proxy voter records to be supplied to political parties, as well as candidates, during an election campaign, and to make them available throughout the year to political parties. We therefore plan to allow greater access to the records by political parties. I hope that that addresses the specific point that the noble Lord raised. On Amendment No. 117C, and in reference to what the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, said—that it is helpful to have access to the list of returned postal votes for campaigning purposes—access to the marked list of returned postal votes will be in accordance with the regulations that will be made under Clauses 41 and 42. They will set out who may have access to election documents, under what conditions, the purposes for which they may be used and the manner in which they may be supplied. We do not think it necessary to put the arrangements in the Bill, but it is anticipated that the regulations will provide for the marked list of returned postal votes to be available in both printed and electronic form. We will deal with the issue of accessibility—which, I believe, was at the core of the point that the noble Lord was addressing—either through regulations that I have already mentioned, or through regulations that are to come.