Clause 19 - Review of polling places
Electoral Administration Bill
4:00 pm
David Heath (Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs & Shadow Leader of the House, Law Officers (Constitutional Affairs); Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
I wish to raise two points. First, I want to be clear what proposed new section 18B(5) means, because I have looked at it and construed it in various ways, and I still do not understand it, although I am not particularly stupid in such matters. Perhaps the Minister can help me.
''If no polling place is designated for a polling district the polling district is to be taken to be the polling place.''
What does it mean? Will we have one big polling station that covers the whole district? Can one cast a vote wherever one happens to be, in the street? I honestly do not understand it, but I am sure that it means something, and the Minister will be able to help me, but at the moment I am struggling.
The second point is more general. There is a degree of confusion in the terms. The word ''area'' means different things in different parts of the clause. That is not particularly helpful. On some occasions it is used to mean an electoral district, and on others it means something wider. In other instances, it appears to mean the building in which the polling takes place. If others are to construe what is proposed, it is not helpful for terms to change their meaning within a single section. I have not proposed an amendment at this stage; I simply put it to the Minister that he might like to consider whether the wording can be tightened a little, so that we are clear whether we are talking about a polling district, a building in which a polling station is situated or some other area. At present, the drafting looks slightly sloppy.