. Northern Ireland Assembly s Parties Panel 12 January 2010 Radisson SAS Hotel, Belfast at 11am Present: Alliance Party Green Party Progressive Unionist Party SDLP Sinn Féin Ulster Unionist Party: In attendance for The Electoral Commission: Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. Stephen Douglas Cadogan Enright Kate Nelson Gerry Cosgrove Gary Fleming Séamus Drumm Richard Holmes Henrietta Campbell, Electoral Commissioner Séamus Magee, Head of Office Northern Ireland Roisin McDaid, Senior Officer (Political Parties Liaison) Cahir Hughes, Senior Communications Officer Caralyn Morton, Business Support Officer Douglas Bain, Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland: Graham Shields, Assistant Chief Electoral Officer Apologies: Democratic Unionist Party Ulster Unionist Party: Allan Ewart Hazel Legge 1 Welcome and introductions 1.1 The Chairman, Dr Henrietta Campbell, welcomed everyone to the meeting. 2 Notes of previous meeting 6 October 2009 2.1 The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed without amendment. 3 Matters arising from previous meeting 3.1 Issues were covered as part of the main agenda. 4 Issues raised by the political parties 4.1 No additional items were added to the agenda. 1
5 Party and Election Finance Candidates Expenses Northern Ireland Guidance for a 2010 UK Parliamentary general election 5.1 Roisin McDaid tabled revised guidance for candidates intending to stand at the forthcoming UK Parliamentary election and gave a brief overview of the new rules, including the new long and short campaign spending limits. The guidance, together with a user-friendly Excel spreadsheet for parties use would shortly be available at the Electoral Commission s website: www.electoralcommission.org.uk A link to this spreadsheet would be circulated to party representatives. Parties were also advised to contact Roisin for one to one training. Weekly donation and loan reporting 5.2 Parties were advised that the for the first time at an election in Northern Ireland the registered treasurer must submit, weekly reports on donation and loans received by the party to the Commission during the general election period. This period would begin with the date on which the intention to dissolve Parliament is announced and end with the date of the poll. Parties on the Northern Ireland register would be written to regarding this timetable and the issue would also be addressed at the forthcoming pre-election seminars. 5.3 Roisin McDaid confirmed that weekly returns should include donations and loans 'received' (as opposed to 'accepted' as in quarterly reporting) by the party head office, so did not apply to donations and loans received by accounting units. The thresholds for reporting weekly donations/loans changed on 1 January 2010 and parties now have to report donations (or loans) of over 7,500. Parties must submit nil weekly returns if there is nothing to report unless they have submitted an exemption confirming they were not contesting the UK Parliamentary election.. Forms for these reports would be available on the Electoral Commission s website. Revised reporting thresholds for donations and loans from 1 January 2010 5.4 Roisin McDaid tabled a paper updating the Panel on the changes to the permissibility and reporting thresholds for political and regulated donees. The permissibility threshold increased from 200 to 500 (donations and loans above 500 must come from permissible sources). The reporting threshold for party headquarters increased from 5000 to 7,500, and for accounting units and regulated donees from 1000 to 1,500. Where a party has already reported a donation or loan it must report further donations/loans of 1,500 from the same source in the same calendar year. Parties were invited to contact Roisin McDaid if they wished to discuss specific PEF issues. 2
Quarter 4 returns 2009 5.5 Parties were reminded that donation and loan returns for the period 1 October 31 December 2009 must be submitted by 30 January 2010 and that the old reporting thresholds would apply. NIO consultation on donations and loans in Northern Ireland 5.6 The parties were informed that the NIO consultation on transparency of donations and loans reporting was due for publication the near future. Parties were encouraged to respond to the NIO during the twelve-week consultation period. It was understood that the consultation paper would contain a number of options for consideration and may address the retrospective release of reporting information. There was a brief discussion on the political parties initial views which covered donees concerns, state funding of political parties and a recognition that the public wanted to see greater transparency. 5.7 To inform its response to the consultation, the Commission was meeting with a range of stakeholders to hear their views. In addition the Commission had conducted focus groups and had gained public opinion through a number of surveys. 6 Electoral Administration Pre-election seminars 6.1 Séamus Magee informed the Panel that the Commission would be organising two pre-election information seminars in mid-late February (similar to sessions held in the past ) in conjunction with the Royal Mail and EONI. Details of these seminars would follow shortly. Candidates, agents and party workers would be invited to attend. NIO Consultation Paper on filling casual vacancies on district councils 6.2 A copy of the Electoral Commission s response to this NIO consultation was tabled and parties were encouraged to make their views known to the NIO within the next few days. Consultation on electoral observers at UK elections 6.3. The consultation on the Commission s review of its Code of Practice for electoral observers ended on 4 January 2010. Most respondents supported the minor revisions to the Code. 3
7 Communications Planned campaigns activity for UK Parliamentary election 7.1 Cahir Hughes gave an overview of public awareness activity in the run-up to the UK Parliamentary election. This would use a new creative in Northern Ireland under the strapline Make sure nothing stops you. As there are reduced funding available for public awareness, incorporating creative work already developed for the Commission at previous elections in Great Britain allowed the Commission to target groups less likely to vote. As discussed at previous Panel meetings, it was intended that the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland would take responsibility for public awareness campaigns at some point after the next election. 7.2 Planning had been challenging as the election date was not known. It was intended to run a public awareness campaign to encourage registration in the first two weeks of April. Should an election be called on 6 May, people would have until 20 April to ensure they were on the electoral register. If the election were to be held at a later date, additional advertising could be placed, if required. There would be a contingency plan for a snap election, but this would be limited as TV advertising in particular would be prohibitively expensive at short notice. It was confirmed that contingency planning was in place in the event of a UK Parliamentary election and Northern Ireland Assembly election taking place on the same date. 7.3 A subsequent voter information campaign, focussing on reminding voters to bring photographic identification to the polling station, would use radio, press outdoor and online media. TV advertising would not be included primarily due to cost, but research had also indicated that voters in Northern Ireland have a good understanding of the requirement for photographic identification. 7.4 A helpline would operate in partnership with the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, whereby callers would be transferred to staff with electoral expertise. 8 The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland - Update Update on registration levels 8.1 The Chief Electoral Officer informed the Panel that 1,170,290 people were registered to vote on 4 January 2010 representing an increase of 5,264 since the publication of the 1 December register. Of these, 18,154 were attainers, compared with 244 on the register following the 2006 canvass. All except four post-primary schools had facilitated a visit from the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland (EONI). 4
New registration initiatives 8.2 The CEO gave an overview of a range of initiatives he was piloting to increase registration in the run-up to the UK Parliamentary election. These included mini canvasses in the nine wards served by three local offices, late night opening for three local offices, the establishment of a number of sub-offices, and a household leaflet drop in nine wards (identified as having low registration rates) within the Newtownabbey area. He was also working proactively with the owners of residential and nursing homes to ensure people were registered. Revised polling station scheme 8.3 The CEO reported that he had written to all parties confirming the revisions to the Polling Station Scheme and details would appear on the EONI website: www.eoni.org.uk once a late application for change in Belfast West had been resolved. Changes to law for the UK Parliamentary election 8.4 The RPA Amendment Regulations 2010 were due to be debated in both Houses of Parliament on 20 and 21 January 2010. The CEO outlined the following changes: Photographic identification Any photographic driving licence (full/provisional) issued by the European Economic Area was added to the list of acceptable photo ID. The 60 Plus SmartPass was added to the list of acceptable documents that can be required for late registration. The CEO now had powers to remove individuals from the registrar when informed of deaths by Registrar Generals throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland. For postal vote applications requesting they be sent to a different address from that on the register, a reason must be given. Postal and Proxy voting attestation o For applications on the grounds of illness or of disability or blindness the attestor must in future be registered on the electoral roll. o For permanent absent vote applications on the grounds of disability or blindness the application could in future be attested by a social worker. (This does not apply to one-off applications) o One individual could in future attest two one-off applications on any grounds other than illness or unforeseen illness. There is no limit on the number of one-off illness or late illness applications that any doctor etc can attest. 5
Guidance o The exemption from attestation for applicants was extended in certain circumstances. In future the CEO would in particular circumstances have the power to provide a doctor with information if required. 8.5 The CEO reported that guidance for candidates would be available on the EONI website in early February. ID Clinics 8.6 In advance of previous elections the EONI ran photographic ID clinics. The CEO considered there was less need to do so now that the 60 Plus SmartPass was included as an acceptable form of identification and that ID did not have to be current. He asked parties to contact him by 14 February with details of any areas where they felt there was a realistic prospect of attracting significant public uptake. Arrangements for any combined poll 8.7 The CEO tabled a draft election timetable and explained that if there happened to be a combined Assembly and Westminster poll in Northern Ireland he was unlikely to proceed with overnight counting. If these circumstances arose, counting for the UK Parliamentary election would proceed on Friday with votes for the Assembly being counted on the following Monday and Tuesday. Performance Standards 8.8 The CEO said he welcomed the NIO consultation paper which addressed the issue of introducing performance standards for registration and elections in Northern Ireland. While registration was different in Northern Ireland, he was working with the Commission on piloting registration standards which the Commission would use to assess his performance. He tabled a paper outlining his proposed standards and asked parties to provide him with comments by the middle of January. Staff Changes 8.9 The CEO introduced Graham Shields who had taken over the role, previously held by June Butler. He also mentioned that he would be standing down from his role in September 2010 and that his post would be advertised in the near future. The Chair, on behalf of the Panel, welcomed the new Assistant Chief Electoral Officer to the meeting. 6
9 Next Meeting 9.1 The next meeting of the Panel is scheduled for Tuesday, 13 April 2010 at the Radisson SAS Hotel, Ormeau Avenue, Belfast, with a parties pre-meeting at 10.30am followed by a full panel meeting at 11am. Parties were invited to submit any items for the agenda two weeks in advance of this date 9.2 This date may be subject to change if an election date is announced in the meantime. If so, the Commission will contact parties accordingly. 7
List of agreed actions Action Circulate to parties a link to the candidates expenses spreadsheet. Electoral Commission to advise parties of details for preelection information seminars mid-late February and party representatives to encourage attendance. Party representatives were encouraged to give their views on NIO consultation on filling casual vacancies on district councils. Donations and loan returns for period 1 October 31 December 2009 to be submitted by 30 January 2010 If an election date is announced before the next Panel meeting on 13 April 2010, this date may be rescheduled and parties will be advised. Responsible Electoral Commission Electoral Commission and Party representatives Parties to input views. Party representatives Electoral Commission 8