Dr. Theresa Reidy:

Some of the issues that have arisen fall into the broader category of electoral policy, which would remain in the remit of the Government and Parliament. This includes such matters as the electoral system and the major question as to when elections will take place. It could be interesting to tease out in a little more detail the intersection between broad questions of electoral policy and certain technical elements of how elections are conducted vis-à-visthe electoral registration system or practices such as electronic voting. For example, it could tease out the extent to which it is the role of the electoral commission to recommend policy and the areas in which it has scope to introduce policy.

Rather than specifically considering each individual area, perhaps the electoral commission should consider the point at which broad electoral policy meets technical election issues and who is responsible for what. One of the issues that repeatedly arises is that all kinds of developments take place in the electoral area and we must wait for legislation. I refer, for example, to the role of the Internet and social media. In what space does the electoral commission have the capacity to respond to these types of developments and in what space does one rely on Parliament to lay the groundwork or set the framework within which decisions can be taken?