This group has 24 technical amendments that were requested by the Electoral Commission and the wider electoral community. I do not believe that the items are controversial, but of course they need to be considered seriously.
The first sub-group relates to granting emergency proxies, and is covered by amendments 5 to 7. As introduced, the bill provides for voters to apply for emergency proxies when circumstances that arise after the deadline for usual absent vote applications mean that the voter cannot attend the polling station on the day of poll. That is to ensure that voters are not disadvantaged due to medical, employment or other situations beyond their control.
Electoral registration officers have suggested that the current rules do not make adequate provision for some medical emergencies. A voter who suffers a medical emergency near to the deadline for applying for absent votes may be undergoing treatment or otherwise incapacitated for a sufficient length of time that they cannot apply to be an absent voter before that deadline. Although voting is important, applying for a proxy vote might not be the first thing that someone would think of when coping with a serious medical event.
On that basis, I have lodged amendments that would give electoral registration officers the power to grant an emergency proxy to voters in such circumstances. When applying for this proxy, voters will need to provide information about the medical event and why it meant that they could not apply for a proxy before the usual deadline. The change will ensure that voters are not unfairly prevented from voting because a serious medical event happens at a particular point in the electoral timetable.
Amendments 8, 15, 19, 25, 26, 43, 50 and 64 all relate to the status of Easter Monday in the administrative timetable. Electoral administrators have asked that Easter Monday should be added to the list of days that do not count for the administrative timetable for the poll at a referendum. Those days are normally referred to as “dies non”.
The other dies non are Saturdays and Sundays, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, bank holidays in Scotland and any day which is appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning. Electoral administrators are concerned that having a different set of dies non from those that apply at other devolved elections could possibly lead to voter confusion and have suggested that a standardised approach would be more appropriate. The Government has accepted that argument and we are lodging the amendments that will standardise the dies non across devolved elections and referendums.
Amendment 9 was requested by electoral registration officers and removes the power for the chief counting officer to prescribe the form of the application to register to vote. The power to prescribe a bespoke registration form for the 2014 independence referendum was needed because it was open to 16 and 17-year-olds to register for a vote at that specific referendum. Normally when someone completes an application to register form, they are automatically registered for all elections at which they are eligible to vote. However in 2014, 16 and 17-year-olds did not have the vote at any other election and therefore an application form was required that specifically referred to them being allowed to register only for the independence referendum.
That power allowed the chief counting officer to prescribe that form and to require electoral registration officers to use it. Because the Government has now extended voting to 16 and 17-year-olds at all devolved elections—which I would like to see for all elections in the UK—there is no need for a separate bespoke form. The normal online and paper registration forms make appropriate references to 16 and 17-year-olds being able to vote at Scottish Parliament and local government elections, and therefore at any referendum. There is no need for the chief counting officer to prescribe the registration form for future referendums, and this amendment removes that unnecessary and sometimes confusing provision.
Amendments 11 and 24 were requested by the Electoral Commission and will require the chief counting officer to consult with the Electoral Commission before issuing directions to counting officers or electoral registration officers.
As it stands, the bill does not require consultation with the Electoral Commission. However, consulting with the Electoral Commission before issuing directions is already current practice at local government elections and is the proposed procedure for Scottish Parliament elections set out in the Scottish Elections (Reform) Bill. Even without the amendments, it is likely that the chief counting officer would informally consult with the Electoral Commission, as happened at the 2014 referendum. However, the amendments will formalise the practice that was used at the 2014 referendum and will ensure that consultation with the Electoral Commission is always conducted in future polls in the same manner, thus creating a high standard of administration and consistency. Consulting with the Electoral Commission ensures that directions have been externally reviewed, and the amendments will increase trust in the way that the referendum is run.
Amendments 10, 16, 17, 20, 21 and 22 allow for electoral registration officers to provide counting officers with two interim updates of the electoral register in the run-up to the close of registration, which is 12 days before the date of the referendum. Those changes will bring referendums into line with devolved elections, when the provision of interim updates is normal practice. The amendments have the support of electoral registration officers. Interim updates assist counting officers to issue poll cards and postal ballot packs to newly registered voters, or those who have changed their method of voting, as early as practicable.
Amendments 12, 13 and 14 have been lodged at the request of electoral registration officers. Currently, paragraph 16(4) of schedule 1 to the bill allows for electoral registration officers to appoint deputes for the purposes of the bill. However, we have received representation from EROs that that differs from normal practice at elections, when local authorities approve depute electoral registration officers. They are concerned that there might be a difference in what deputes are approved to do, which might cause administrative difficulties. In line with that representation, we are now proposing that the bill be amended so that local authorities rather than EROs will be responsible for approving deputes. That will mirror the equivalent provision for deputes at other devolved elections.
Amendment 65—I am coming to a conclusion, convener—will allow the code of practice for electoral observers at local government elections to apply at referendums that are held in Scotland. That change has also been requested by the Electoral Commission.
The Scottish Government is also seeking to extend the same code to Scottish Parliament elections through another bill that is currently before the Parliament. The code of practice for observers at Scottish local government elections is already in place and was laid before the Parliament by the Electoral Commission in December 2018. The code of practice explains how to become an observer and what is expected of an observer, and it provides guidance for electoral officials on working with observers. It is written generically in a way that applies to observation at any electoral event and is not specific to a particular election. The code functions well for other elections and referendums. Applying the existing code of practice to referendums under the legislation that we are discussing today will avoid the Electoral Commission having to prepare a separate code.
I hope that those explanations are helpful.
I move amendment 5.