Law Commissions urge reform to "fragmented" legal framework for elections

The laws governing elections should be rationalised into a single, consistent legislative framework governing all elections, the Law Commissions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have said.

In a consultation setting out their provisional proposals, the law reform advisory bodies said changes should also be based on the principle that electoral laws should be consistent across all types of election.

The Law Commissions highlighted how electoral law in the UK was spread across 25 major statutes and had “become increasingly complex and fragmented, and difficult to use”.

They noted the range of different elections for local mayors, police and crime commissioners, councillors, MPs, MSPs or MLAs, Welsh or London AMs or MEPs.

“Each of these election types comes with its own set of rules and systems, and combining them to produce one election event introduces yet more layers of electoral laws,” the Law Commissions.

The consultation will cover the management and oversight of elections, notice of elections and the polling process, as well as registration of electors, management of postal voting applications, and how and when an election can be challenged.

Nicholas Paines QC, Law Commissioner for public law, who is leading the project for the Law Commission of England and Wales, said: "It is clear that electoral law is in need of reform. Inconsistencies and ambiguities risk undermining the credibility of our electoral process.

“The law must be simplified, modernised and rationalised so that it can be more easily understood and used by administrators and candidates, and public confidence in electoral administration can be strengthened.”

The consultation will run until 31 March 2015. It has been welcomed by the Electoral Commission, which has been calling for election legislation to be simplified and brought up to date for more than 10 years.

Bob Posner, Legal Counsel for the watchdog, said: “We welcome the publication of the Law Commissions’ consultation as part of their ongoing review of electoral law.
 
“Electoral law in the UK is voluminous, fragmented and unnecessarily complex. It is in need of modernisation and it is not simply enough to consolidate what is already there; it also needs simplifying. This is an important piece of work and we encourage everyone that cares about how our elections are run to respond.”