New Clause 3 Absent and overseas voters
Electoral Administration Bill
12:30 pm
Eleanor Laing (Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, Scotland; Epping Forest, Conservative)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
I speak on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner). The clause relates to absent and overseas voters. In this year’s general election, many people who live outside the United Kingdom who were entitled to vote lost that right because of administrative problems in returning their ballot papers. If the Minister is unwilling to accept the new clause as a way of putting that right, can she please reassure the Committee that the Government will take other steps to protect the rights of voters who live outside the United Kingdom?