3. Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Publication of the Electoral Administration and Reform White Paper

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:26 pm on 11 October 2022.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 3:26, 11 October 2022

Thank you. I think the points you made early on about inclusiveness, really, about those with disabilities, whether they be sensory abilities and so on, are actually really important. Digitisation and so on create many opportunities for change and for inclusiveness within those. Those are the ones we want to explore, and there are many examples in countries around the world that I know have been looked at previously, but I think digitisation again creates opportunities there.

I should say one thing, of course, which is that one thing we refer to in the paper—not looking at it for the next set of elections, but in the future—is of course online voting. We think there are issues with regard to technology, security and so on at this stage, but of course digitisation opens the door for that, and I think that’s a really different thing. Many of us have experience of it in many ways already, so it is about the utilisation of the technology, provided it can be done safely, robustly and, I think, absolutely simply.

I think the point you raised in terms of postal votes is absolutely right. Of course, some changes were made after the last elections with regard to the format of the postal vote papers, and I have to confess you’re absolutely right about the confusion. I made a mistake and had to go and seek another paper in order to do that, for exactly the same reason—you sign in the wrong place or whatever. And those are easy mistakes to make. So, one of the things in this area that’s in the paper for consultation is of course that issue of tracking. And that is ensuring that those who want to vote and who use postal votes—if there are reasons why, there are technical errors like that and so on, there are opportunities for them to be corrected and so on. I don’t think that is beyond our abilities at all.

I just thank you for the other comments.