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INTRODUCTION
Background
Section 5 of the Scottish Local Government (Elections)
Act 2002 gives Councils the opportunity to pilot innovative
electoral systems in order to improve turnout, make voting
more accessible and to secure administrative
efficiencies.
Councils may apply to the Scottish Executive to run
pilot schemes at local government elections. Applications
may include proposals for new electoral arrangements
relating to when and where voting can take place, the
method used to cast votes, how votes are counted, and the
provision of information about candidates. In addition,
local authorities can make proposals for other arrangements
carried out before or during the poll that they consider to
be likely to facilitate or encourage voting generally and
among particular groups such as older people, minority
ethnic groups and those with disabilities.
If the Scottish Executive approves a pilot scheme an
Order is made under the 2002 Act to give the pilot
arrangements a legal basis.
The City of Edinburgh Council submitted an application
to Scottish Executive Ministers on 25
th August 2004 for approval to conduct an
all-postal vote pilot in the Council's Colinton (No. 43)
Ward. The application was granted and the Colinton all
postal pilot by-election was held on 28
th October 2004.
The Evaluation
The 2002 Act requires any council piloting new electoral
arrangements to undertake an evaluation of it. Hitherto the
Electoral Commission has also conducted an independent
evaluation of pilot schemes approved.
The Commission's evaluation normally included a
description of the scheme and an assessment of it against
the following five criteria:
- The scheme's success or otherwise in facilitating
voting or the counting of votes, or in encouraging
voting or enabling voters to make informed choices at
the elections;
- Whether the turnout of voters was higher than it
would have been if the scheme had not applied;
- Whether voters found the procedures provided for
their assistance by the scheme easy to use;
- Whether the procedures provided for by the scheme
led to any increase in personation or other electoral
offences, or in any other malpractice in connection
with elections;
- Whether these procedures led to any increase in
expenditure, or to any savings, by the authority.
The Commission recently determined that it was unable to
support evaluation of any more all postal pilot schemes. As
the Scottish Executive remains committed to independently
evaluating Scottish election pilots, Stirling Council - who
carried out Scotland's first all postal pilot by-election
in April 2002 - and
MORI Scotland were commissioned by the
Executive to undertake an independent evaluation of the
Colinton all postal pilot scheme.
This report was brought together by the Scottish
Executive's Local Government and Public Services Reform
Research Team and is a compilation of separate reports
produced by Stirling Council and
MORI Scotland. Bob Jack, Depute
Returning Officer for Stirling Council, undertook an
evaluation of the processes adopted for the pilot. His
evaluation of the processes adopted by the City of
Edinburgh Council is provided in chapter one.
MORI Scotland was separately
commissioned to conduct a post-election survey of Colinton
residents. The findings of this survey are detailed in
chapter two. The Conclusion draws on the findings from both
reports.
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