(Minister for Housing and Local Government): So,
this Bill contains many safeguards to ensure that postponement is
not only considered in genuinely unprecedented circumstances, but
if we do not introduce these provisions, we will lose an important
contingency option in responding to the pandemic. I and my fellow
Ministers strongly believe in making voting easier and more
flexible, and would've liked to introduce provisions for early
voting in order to give people more choice as to when to vote in
person, but we have accepted the advice of the electoral community
that, at this notice, and in the circumstances where the Senedd
election will happen at the same time as the elections of
the Police and Crime
Commissioners, who are the
responsibility of the UK Government, this cannot be achieved for 6
May. We will continue to keep early voting under review in the
event that the election is postponed. In such exceptional
circumstances, we must consider all options to enable voters to
participate in the election. We may, therefore, return to this at
Stage 2...
:...We took part in the Welsh
Government's elections planning group last summer, and there are a
number of concerns that we still have from that planning group,
including extending voting over multiple days, where voters will be
disenfranchised if they thought that voting on another day for the
Welsh Parliament would still enable them to vote for the
police and crime commissioner; extending voting
hours from 6.00 a.m. til 11:00 p.m., when it's not believed that
this would improve voter turnout; and increasing the number of
proxy votes, where we would not want to see any changes that would
allow an individual to act as proxy for a whole household where
they're not related.
Delaying the Welsh general election due to take place on 6 May
would have huge ramifications, with many feeling disenfranchised,
especially when the pandemic has shone such a bright light on
devolved Government in Wales. Elections have taken place in a
number of countries during the course of the pandemic, including
the United States, Spain, France, Canada, New Zealand and South
Korea. As South Korea's director general for public health policy
subsequently stated, not one case related to the election was
reported during the 14-day incubation period. And although Mr
Trump claims that this allowed US votes to be miscounted, this is
not exactly a widely held view in this place. Although the
proposed Bill includes little on postal voting, we would welcome
more detail on how people will be encouraged to sign up.
Considering that the Scottish parliamentary elections, mayoral
elections, English council elections and police and crime
commissioner elections are also due this spring, can the
Minister also state whether or not there are ongoing discussions
about a co-ordinated UK-wide approach to these elections? Welsh
Conservatives have always maintained that the Welsh Parliament
elections should take place on 6 May 2021 except in exceptional,
emergency circumstances. Diolch. Thank you.
:...We must remember the US election took
place during the pandemic. I'd be very disappointed if the Senedd
election could not take place. If the Conservatives postpone
the Police and Crime Commissioners
and the English council elections, that is no reason for us
to postpone the Senedd election. One thing we could request all
parties to consider is a return to four-year electoral term—five
years is too long. It was brought in for the best of reasons to
apply with the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. In my opinion,
never has any piece of legislation been more meaningless. This
must be the last five-year term...
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