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<p>The majority of the recommendations in the report from the Speaker's Commission
on Digital Democracy are for the House itself to consider and respond to.<br><br>In
relation to the recommendations regarding the legislative process, the Government
is committed to ensuring that the legislation it puts before Parliament is of a high
standard and to ensuring that Parliament has the necessary means by which to perform
its scrutiny function.<br><br>In April 2013, the Government launched the Good Law
initiative, designed to promote law which is effective, clear and accessible. Various
initiatives have been introduced this Parliament designed to improve the legislative
process, including the use of explanatory statements on amendments, improved explanatory
notes and piloting public reading stages of Bills. The Government has also given sufficient
time to allow proper scrutiny in public bill committees and provided additional days
at Commons report stages where necessary.<br><br>The Speaker's Commission also recommended
that secure online voting should be an option for all voters by 2020. To make online
voting available for UK elections could be attractive in light of current advances
in IT. However, there are concerns that e-voting is not sufficiently transparent or
secure.<br><br>The major issue raised by those opposed to the introduction of e-voting
is that it is not sufficiently robust or trusted. In addition, the cost of introducing
such a system would be substantial. Public support for such measures is still far
from universal and traditional means of voting (such as polling stations and postal
voting) remain popular with the electorate. Therefore, any means of e-voting would
have to be introduced as an additional voting channel. Whilst e-voting may be something
for the Government to consider in the future, it is not an immediate priority. The
experience of the referendum on Scottish independence shows us that if people are
engaged in the democratic process they will turn out to vote using the existing mechanism.</p>
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