Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) (Amendment) Order 2009

I am sure that Members of the Committee have noticed that this order is lengthy, and I hope it will assist the Committee if I set out the legislative background and explain why it is necessary. The Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) Order 2001 governs the conduct of elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It applies to Assembly elections, with the necessary modifications, provisions on the conduct of parliamentary elections contained in various pieces of electoral legislation, most notably in the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008. The Committee may be aware that both of those pieces of legislation on parliamentary elections have been amended recently. The 1983 Act was amended by the Electoral Administration Act 2006, and, following that, consequential changes were required to the secondary legislation governing parliamentary elections. These were set out in the 2008 regulations. As the 2001 Assembly order applies to both pieces of legislation, we also need to make the appropriate changes to it. Therefore, the main purpose of the draft order is to update the 2001 order to ensure that the framework for administering elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly is consistent with the legislative changes recently made in respect of parliamentary elections. It is for this reason that the order is such a sizeable one and I can assure the Committee that the vast majority of provisions within it are technical or merely make the necessary updates to which I have referred. However, although the main purpose of the order is to update the legislative framework for Assembly elections more generally, bringing forward this legislation also provides an opportunity for other changes to be made. For that reason, in July 2008, the Northern Ireland Office launched a full public consultation entitled, Improving the Administration of Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The consultation paper discussed a number of areas where legislative reform might be considered worthwhile. Responses to the consultation were received from, among others, the four largest Northern Ireland parties, the Chief Electoral Officer and the Electoral Commission. As a result of the consultation, the order also includes some substantive provisions that I wish to draw to the Committee’s attention. The first relates to filling vacancies in the Assembly that arise during the term. Assembly elections are held under the single transferable vote form of proportional representation. It is widely recognised that by-elections to replace members in a PR system may result in parties being disproportionately represented in a constituency. At PR elections, several seats are usually available for each constituency and they are allocated proportionately to candidates who receive enough votes to meet the quota for that constituency. If one of those seats becomes vacant and there is a by-election, the seat is likely to go to a candidate from the strongest party in that constituency, even if it had previously been filled by a candidate from another party, thus distorting the careful balance that would have previously existed. For this reason, the 2001 order provides for candidates to submit a list of up to six substitutes ranked in order of preference when delivering their nomination papers. This list is then used to fill any vacancy arising should that seat be vacated because, for example, the member has died or resigned during the course of an Assembly term. Although this system has been effective in reducing the possibility of by-elections in a PR system, a number of practical problems have been identified in relation to it. For example, those designated as substitutes at the time of the election may be unable or unwilling to fill a vacant seat at the time the vacancy actually arises. They may have assumed other responsibilities during the course of the Assembly term or other factors may have emerged that did not exist at the time the person was first listed as a substitute, such as illness or family commitments, or they may have changed or withdrawn their membership of a political party since then. For these reasons, the consultation paper proposed an alternative process for filling vacancies, which is set out in Article 6 of the draft order. Under the new system, if a seat becomes vacant, the nominating officer of the party that the member belonged to at the time he or she was elected will be asked to nominate a replacement MLA to fill that seat. For independent MLAs, a slight variation of the current system will continue. However, rather than provide a list of substitutes at the time they are nominated as a candidate, they may do so only once they are elected. An independent MLA may modify this list during the Assembly’s term, providing proper notice is given to the Chief Electoral Officer. The consultation revealed that there was strong support for the proposed new method from most respondents, including the four largest Northern Ireland parties. The draft order also includes other minor amendments to the 2001 order that received widespread support from respondents to the consultation, which I will set out briefly. Currently, at an Assembly election, the returning officer may suspend the count between 7 pm and 9 am, but only if the counting agents agree. Assembly election counts rarely finish before 7 pm due to the use of the single transferable vote system. Although it is normal practice for the counting agents and the returning officer to agree to suspend the count if it appears unlikely that the count will be concluded that evening, in a number of constituencies during the 2007 Assembly election agreement could not be reached to suspend. This resulted in the counts continuing well into the night with the last constituency declaring in the early hours of the following day. Counting in an STV system is a complex exercise. It is important both for the welfare of counting staff and for the integrity of the count itself for the count to be suspended, if necessary, at a reasonable time. For this reason, the draft order provides for the count to be suspended at 11 pm unless the counting agents and the returning officer agree otherwise. This is the practice at local government elections in Northern Ireland, which are also held under the single transferable vote system. The draft order also provides for an extension of the period in which nominations can be made, in light of the increased number of candidates at Assembly elections compared to parliamentary elections. In addition, it provides for a party’s emblem to be included on a ballot paper at the request of a party nominating officer rather than by the candidate, as is currently the case. It is hoped that these administrative changes will greatly assist the Chief Electoral Officer and party officials at what is usually a busy period for all concerned. In summary, the order is essential to ensure that the legislative framework for administering elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly is consistent and up to date with developments in electoral law across the UK. I hope that Members of the Committee will also agree that the current system for filling vacancies in the Assembly requires reform, and that the proposed new method is the most suitable under the circumstances and is widely supported by the political parties in Northern Ireland. I beg to move.