Clause 35 - Assistance for certain postal voters
Electoral Administration Bill
1:30 pm
Jim McGovern (Dundee West, Labour)
May I seek clarification from the Minister on part of clause 35? I apologise for being hoarse, but I have the cold. Proposed new rule 24(1)(c) in schedule 1 to the Representation of the People Act 1983 describes what someone requires to be able to vote by post. It says:
''together with such envelopes for their return (whether free of charge or otherwise)''.
That implies that a charge may be introduced in future. If the Bill's objective is to encourage as many people as possible to participate in the electoral process, the possibility that a charge could be introduced would contradict that objective. Will the Minister comment on that?