White Paper on Local Government Reform

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:02 pm on 13 March 2018.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 2:02, 13 March 2018

Yes, it's difficult to know, without looking fully at the evidence, why that situation occurred in Norway and Estonia. I think what's important is to offer people as many methods of voting as is reasonable, to give them as much chance as possible to vote. We have historically, in this country, voted on a Thursday—not always, as the Member for Alyn and Deeside knows. But, for example, other countries vote on the weekend. The reason why we've never had votes on a Sunday is that my grandfather wouldn't have voted on a Sunday, bluntly—Sabbatarianism. I'm not sure we are in a similar position to that now. So, I think we do need to look at whether weekend voting is the way forward. Of course, there are some people who are working on a Saturday or Sunday, but flexibility there, electronic voting, postal voting—it's important, I think, that we look at as many means as possible of enabling people to vote as long as those means are secure.