[SOLA 012281] UK Free & Fair Elections #1 : Concealment of Evidence

The request was successful.

(1) On 15 November 2017, PParker and Lizzie Tovey were involved in the preparation of a 7 pages Microsoft Word document which was subsequently published on the UK Elecoral Commissions web site, entitled "Access to documentation after a local government election in England and Wales". Please cite the legislation supporting this Electoral Commissions "guidance".

electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/word_doc/0016/142054/Guidance-on-the-retention-and-inspection-of-election-documents-LGEW.doc

(2) What, if any, intention has the Electoral Commission to abandon its notorious "dumbed-down" publication-style which includes its tendency to omit the legislative source allegedly supporting the Electoral Commission's pronouncements on UK laws ?

Mr Janik.

FOI, Electoral Commission

Dear Mr Janik,

Thank you for your enquiry. Your question falls outside the direct scope of the FOIA framework as it is not a direct request for information held by the Commission. I referred your question to our Guidance Team. Please find below our response to your questions.

The Electoral Commission provides guidance and resources to help EROs, ROs and their staff in running electoral registration, elections and referendums.

Our guidance is based upon relevant legislation and also provides practical guidance to help support well-run elections and electoral registration. Throughout our guidance we use ‘must’ to refer a specific legislative requirement and ‘should’ to refer to recommended practice. Legislative references are included throughout the core guidance as endnotes.

The resource ‘Retention and inspection of election documents’ at local government elections in England and Wales is a supporting resource designed to be read alongside our Part F of our core guidance for ROs and Part 4 of our core guidance for EROs. Both of these documents contain full legislative references at the appropriate points. The basis for the guidance provided in the resource can be found in two different pieces of legislation as follows:

Legislation covering the sealing up and forwarding of election documentation following the close of poll and counting of votes can be found in Part 5 of schedule 2 of The Local Elections (Principal Areas) (England and Wales) Rules 2006.

Legislation in respect of access to marked registers and other documents open to public inspection after the election can be found in Part VII of The Representation of the People Regulations (England and Wales) Regulations (2001).

Returning Officers (ROs) are responsible for administering the election and for sealing up and transporting the election documentation listed in the legislation. Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are legally responsible for the further secure storage, access and destruction of election documentation as set out in the legislation.

Yours sincerely,

Ashley Lardner
Information, Knowledge and Systems Manager
The Electoral Commission
3 Bunhill Row
London EC1Y 8YZ
[Electoral Commission request email]
electoralcommission.org.uk
yourvotematters.co.uk
Twitter | Facebook | Blog

-----Original Message-----
From: Janik2 <[FOI #481342 email]>
Sent: 30 April 2018 03:37
To: FOI <[Electoral Commission request email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - [SOLA 012281] UK Free & Fair Elections #1 : Concealment of Evidence

(1) On 15 November 2017, PParker and Lizzie Tovey were involved in the preparation of a 7 pages Microsoft Word document which was subsequently published on the UK Elecoral Commissions web site, entitled "Access to documentation after a local government election in England and Wales". Please cite the legislation supporting this Electoral Commissions "guidance".

electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/word_doc/0016/142054/Guidance-on-the-retention-and-inspection-of-election-documents-LGEW.doc

(2) What, if any, intention has the Electoral Commission to abandon its notorious "dumbed-down" publication-style which includes its tendency to omit the legislative source allegedly supporting the Electoral Commission's pronouncements on UK laws ?

Mr Janik.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #481342 email]

Is [Electoral Commission request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to Electoral Commission? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the latest advice from the ICO:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

hide quoted sections

Dear FOI,

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Janik2

Dear FOI,

3. You mentioned, in an un-numbered paragraph:-

"Legislation in respect of access to marked registers and other documents open to public inspection after the election can be found in Part VII of The Representation of the People Regulations (England and Wales) Regulations (2001)."

However, The Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001, (SI 2001/341) online at
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001...
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/341/con...

has no Part 7 or even a Part 6.

The public version I found has these parts, only:-

PART I GENERAL, INTERPRETATION AND MISCELLANEOUS
PART II SERVICE AND OVERSEAS ELECTORS' DECLARATIONS
PART III REGISTRATION
PART IV ABSENT VOTERS
PART V ISSUE AND RECEIPT OF POSTAL BALLOT PAPERS

Consequently may I ask you to precisely clarify the source of the legislation the Electoral Commission is referring to?

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Janik2

FOI, Electoral Commission

Dear Mr Janik,
 
Thank you for your follow-up questions.   The source that you have linked
to, Legislation.go.uk, is provided free of access to the public and is not
up to date.  The SI is published as it was originally made, as it states
on the website.  The SI 2001/341 has been amended since it came into force
but the changes have not been incorporated.  The Commission is not
responsible for the content or publication of information on the
Legislation.gov.uk website
 
The Commission does use appropriate resources, subscription legal
databases, to ensure that we do provide advice based on up to date
legislation.  We cannot provide you access to the databases.
 
Your request does fall outside of the scope of the Freedom of Information
framework as it is not a request for information that the Commission
holds.   We will consider any further requests on this issue to be
duplicate requests.
 
I know that this response is not what you are hoping for from the
Commission.
 
If you would like to read further about getting the most out of Freedom of
Information requests please see the guidance available on the ICO website
([1]https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Ashley Lardner
Information, Knowledge and Systems Manager
The Electoral Commission
3 Bunhill Row
London EC1Y 8YZ
[Electoral Commission request email]
electoralcommission.org.uk
yourvotematters.co.uk
Twitter | Facebook | Blog
 
 
 
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Janik2 <[FOI #481342 email]>
Sent: 03 May 2018 16:37
To: FOI <[Electoral Commission request email]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - [SOLA 012281] UK Free & Fair
Elections #1 : Concealment of Evidence
 
Dear FOI,
 
3. You mentioned, in an un-numbered paragraph:-
 
"Legislation in respect of access to marked registers and other documents
open to public inspection after the election can be found in Part VII of
The Representation of the People Regulations (England and Wales)
Regulations (2001)."
 
However, The Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations
2001, (SI 2001/341) online at
[2]https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001...
[3]www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/341/contents/made
 
has no Part 7 or even a Part 6.
 
The public version I found has these parts, only:-
 
PART I GENERAL, INTERPRETATION AND MISCELLANEOUS PART II SERVICE AND
OVERSEAS ELECTORS' DECLARATIONS PART III REGISTRATION PART IV ABSENT
VOTERS PART V ISSUE AND RECEIPT OF POSTAL BALLOT PAPERS
 
Consequently may I ask you to precisely clarify the source of the
legislation the Electoral Commission is referring to?
 
Thank you.
 
Yours faithfully,
 
Janik2
 
-----Original Message-----
 
Dear Mr Janik,
 
Thank you for your enquiry. Your question falls outside the direct scope
of the FOIA framework as it is not a direct request for information held
by the Commission. I referred your question to our Guidance Team. Please
find below our response to your questions.
 
The Electoral Commission provides guidance and resources to help EROs, ROs
and their staff in running electoral registration, elections and
referendums.
 
Our guidance is based upon relevant legislation and also provides
practical guidance to help support well-run elections and electoral
registration. Throughout our guidance we use ‘must’ to refer a specific
legislative requirement and ‘should’ to refer to recommended practice.
Legislative references are included throughout the core guidance as
endnotes.
 
The resource ‘Retention and inspection of election documents’ at local
government elections in England and Wales is a supporting resource
designed to be read alongside our Part F of our core guidance for ROs and
Part 4 of our core guidance for EROs. Both of these documents contain full
legislative references at the appropriate points. The basis for the
guidance provided in the resource can be found in two different pieces of
legislation as follows:
 
Legislation covering the sealing up and forwarding of election
documentation following the close of poll and counting of votes can be
found in Part 5 of schedule 2 of The Local Elections (Principal Areas)
(England and Wales) Rules 2006.
 
Legislation in respect of access to marked registers and other documents
open to public inspection after the election can be found in Part VII of
The Representation of the People Regulations (England and Wales)
Regulations (2001).
 
Returning Officers (ROs) are responsible for administering the election
and for sealing up and transporting the election documentation listed in
the legislation. Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are legally
responsible for the further secure storage, access and destruction of
election documentation as set out in the legislation.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Ashley Lardner
Information, Knowledge and Systems Manager The Electoral Commission
3 Bunhill Row
London EC1Y 8YZ
[Electoral Commission request email]
electoralcommission.org.uk
yourvotematters.co.uk
Twitter | Facebook | Blog
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[4][FOI #481342 email]
 
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[5]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
 
For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[6]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
 
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.
 
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...
2. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001...
3. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/...
4. mailto:[FOI #481342 email]
5. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
6. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

hide quoted sections

To All:

I have made a request to the Cabinet Office for a fulsome copy of the current version of SI 2001/341 which relates to elections.

Amazingly the UK government has THREE different, and totally unrelated to each other, versions of the same SI 2001/341 as shown on the Cabinet Office link: whatdotheyknow.com/request/sola_012281_cabinet_office_reque

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...