Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Harper and Lord Evans of Rainow

Tuesday 11th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Harper]

First, may I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his new position? We had a number of conversations on these constitutional matters during the progress of the two previous pieces of legislation, and I look forward to more such conversations. As he rightly says, this is a complicated matter—I sometimes have to stress that to colleagues in this House who think it is simple—which is exactly why we have said that the commission will consist of experts who understand how this place works and can balance those complexities while making sure that we end up with a solution that is fairer to England as well as to the other parts of the United Kingdom.

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

4. What recent assessment he has made of the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Harper and Lord Evans of Rainow

Tuesday 24th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

6. What recent assessment he has made of arrangements for the provision of postal votes on demand.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mr Mark Harper)]

We have made no specific assessment of postal voting on demand, but we of course keep postal voting under review as we consider electoral administration in general.

[Graham Evans]

There have been widespread reports of shocking abuses of postal votes, especially in areas with high levels of multiple occupancy housing. Will my hon. Friend tell the House what steps the Government are taking to stamp out postal vote fraud and ensure honesty in our elections?

[Mr Harper]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. He will know that we are introducing individual voter registration before the next general election, which will mean that everyone who wants to cast an absent vote, a postal vote in this case, will have to register individually and provide their identifiers to their registration officer in order to make the register more secure.