Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) (Amendment) Order 2009

I, too, thank the noble Baroness for presenting the order, the schedules of which are indeed complex. However, it is useful to have the consolidated provisions, particularly of Schedules 1 and 2, reflecting all the changes made by the Electoral Administration Act 2006. It will certainly make things simpler for political parties and others to have all the relevant information in one place, rather than constantly cross-referencing with previous orders. We on this side of the Committee particularly welcome the provisions of Article 4, which reinforce that an elector can vote only once at an Assembly election. We hope that the unambiguous language in the order will serve to reinforce existing legislation to combat electoral fraud in Northern Ireland. As the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, has graphically demonstrated, Northern Ireland is now leading the way in elections. On the appointment of replacement members of the Assembly when a seat becomes vacant, have the Government given consideration to the importance of democratic transparency? Do they believe that it is important that those who are nominated to fill vacancies are known to the electorate at the time of the original election and that they are subject to scrutiny? On independence, we are very pleased to see that an order of preference will be indicated in the substitutes list; otherwise it would be impossible to know how to choose between the substitutes. Having said all that, generally we welcome the provisions of this order.