On 5th May the Minister for the Constitution announced a range of new measures to safeguard UK elections by cracking down on intimidation, influence and disinformation.<\/p>
As part of that, the Government has committed to: legislating for a new electoral offence of intimidation; clarifying the electoral offence of undue influence of a voter; implementing an imprints regime for digital election material; and launching a consultation on electoral integrity. Before formally launching the consultation, the Government will be inviting the views of interested groups to establish what the consultation could seek to address, and also see what scope there is for broad cross-party agreement.<\/p>
Any legislative changes relating to issues or specific cases in Northern Ireland would, however, be a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/57", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Young of Cookham"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Young of Cookham"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-17T14:10:20.207Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "53"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Election Offences"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 3 July 2017 (HL3), 15 September 2017 (HL1448), and 13 October 2017 (HL1671), and by Lord Duncan of Springbank on 21 December 2017 (HL3975), 16 March 2018 (HL6045), 20 November 2018 (HL11393 and HL11394), and 17 May (HL15556), what plans they have to introduce legislation to prevent any abuse of the electoral system in the UK.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/648", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Maginnis of Drumglass"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Maginnis of Drumglass"} ], "uin" : "HL16199"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130833", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130833/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Home Office holds data for the outcomes of crimes recorded by police forces in England and Wales.<\/p>
Since 2010 there have been 231 known recorded charges for the Home Office criminal offence codes which cover crimes related to electoral abuse.
This does not include offences of tampering with nomination or ballot papers which cannot be separately identified in the data held centrally.<\/p>
As policing is a devolved matter, data for Scotland and Northern Ireland are not held by the Home Office.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4311", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Williams of Trafford"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-24T15:10:18.917Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Election Offences: Prosecutions"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 3 July 2017 (HL3), 15 September 2017 (HL1448), and 13 October 2017 (HL1671), and by Lord Duncan of Springbank on 21 December 2017 (HL3975), 16 March 2018 (HL6045), 20 November 2018 (HL11393 and HL11394), and 17 May (HL15556), what has been the total number of criminal charges for electoral abuse in (1) Northern Ireland, and (2) elsewhere in the UK, since 2010.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/648", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Maginnis of Drumglass"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Maginnis of Drumglass"} ], "uin" : "HL16200"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130834", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130834/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
We take the security and integrity of our democratic processes very seriously.<\/p>
The running of polls is a matter for independent returning officers, not the Government. The Electoral Commission engage with the returning officers, electoral staff and registered parties providing assistance in disseminating information and advice to individuals delivering or participating in elections.<\/p>
We have processes in place to defend against electoral fraud. There is ongoing work with electoral administrators to ensure our elections remain secure and robust, both now and in the future. Measures like voter ID are the latest in our efforts to respect, protect and promote our democracy.<\/p>
Where abuse of the electoral system is alleged, it is for the Electoral Commission or Police to investigate such claims.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/57", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Young of Cookham"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Young of Cookham"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-20T14:55:39.133Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "53"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "By-elections: Peterborough"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 3 July 2017 (HL3), 15 September 2017 (HL1448), and 13 October 2017 (HL1671), and by Lord Duncan of Springbank on 21 December 2017 (HL3975), 16 March 2018 (HL6045), 20 November 2018 (HL11393 and HL11394), and 17 May (HL15556), what assessment they have made of whether there was any abuse of the electoral system in the conduct of the by-election for Peterborough on 6 June; and if there was any such abuse, what assessment they have made of whether this is part of a wider pattern of abuse of the electoral system.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/648", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Maginnis of Drumglass"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Maginnis of Drumglass"} ], "uin" : "HL16201"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130835", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130835/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Data on the number of electors, postal votes cast, and proxy votes applied for in general elections or by-elections are not collected by the Government.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/57", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Young of Cookham"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Young of Cookham"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-17T14:10:41.343Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "53"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Elections: Peterborough"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the number of (1) electors, (2) postal votes cast, and (3) proxy votes applied for, in the Peterborough constituency for (a) the general election in 2010 and (b) the by-election on 6 June.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/648", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Maginnis of Drumglass"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Maginnis of Drumglass"} ], "uin" : "HL16202"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 4, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }