REFORM OF ELECTORAL LAW
Henni Ouahes
Team Lawyer
26 July 2012
Introduction to the project

The Law Commission reviews the law with a view to its
simplification and modernisation.

The project was proposed by the Electoral Commission and
AEA, supported by the Cabinet Office.

Three phases of the project:
1)
Scoping study (consultation ends 17 September and
report to follow by the end of 2012).
2)
Substantive law reform (consultation summer 2014
and review mid 2015).
3)
Draft legislation (published February 2017).
Conventional model

We looked into the development of the law, from Victorian
origins to the 1983 Act

We describe the conventional model of electoral law as:
1)
Laying down detailed legal rules;
2)
To be strictly applied;
3)
By local administrators
4)
Subject to private challenge before the Courts.
Need for reform


What are the modern concerns?

Volume of laws

Complexity of rules

Fragmentation of sources
Our analysis

More elections after 1983, different voting systems

Election-specific legislation

Detailed prescriptive rules in each election

Many statutes, secondary rules and regulations
Aims of the project



Review the legislative framework:

To reduce volume, fragmentation and complexity.

To consider alternatives to election-specific approach
to legislation.
Reform electoral administration law:

To modernise and simplify outdated concepts.

To rationalise and streamline rules, make timetables
more compatible.
Overall aim is for the law to be accessible, predictable, and
helpful for administrators, participants and voters.
Issues within scope

We propose to cover all elections to public office, as well as
national and local referendums.

We focus on electoral administration, which includes:

Registration of electors

Campaign conduct

Manner of voting

Polling day and the count

Timetables and the combination of polls

Legal challenge and electoral offences
A qualified issue within scope

Management and oversight of elections is included within
scope, but we exclude fundamental change to the current
institutional framework for administration- a policy issue.

Focus is on making simpler, less election specific laws- and to
reduce volume of rules.

Reducing complexity may require some rules to be less
detailed.

Some management and oversight powers may be needed to
maintain consistency.
Issues excluded from scope


Exclude more political topics, such as:

Franchise

Voting systems

Boundaries

Political party regulation

National campaign publicity
These are best left to elected representatives, or democratic /
cross party consensus.
Next steps

Read the scoping consultation paper and contact us if you
have any questions.
Available online at http://lawcom.gov.uk
See A-Z of projects > Electoral Law

Respond by 17 September 2012 so that we can consider your
views.

Scoping report due by the end of 2012.
For further information contact:
Address
Henni Ouahes
Steel House
11 Tothill Street
London
SW1H 9LJ
Telephone
0203 334 0269
Email
[email protected]
Website
http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/electoral-law.htm