Dr. Theresa Reidy:

On the evolution of the electoral commission, what we are saying specifically is that the roles and functions ascribed to it are tightly defined. They consolidate existing electoral administration functions, but there do not seem to be any open functions which would allow the commission to develop its role and expand into new areas.

I will address some of those points in more detail. At present, there is no function providing that the electoral commission has a role in auditing each electoral event and assessing how it operated in the various parts of the electoral cycle. That means we do not have a consistent evaluation after every event. If we take the provision of voter information, because the referendum Acts are consolidated into this legislation, a specific set of requirements mandates the electoral commission to be involved in providing information at referendums. It is not specified anywhere, however, that the electoral commission will be responsible for doing this at elections. We have the odd situation where if a referendum is scheduled at the same time as an election, the referendum commission provides excellent information concerning when the referendum will be, what the issue is and how long the polls will be open, but there is no mention of the election running at the same time. Reading this Bill, there does not seem to be any provision to allow the electoral commission to step into that role and provide this more general information.

It is the same with, for example, the promotion of candidacy, encouraging people to run for election and providing supports for them. There are not functions set out in the current general scheme, as we read it, that would allow the electoral commission to evolve in that way. This is the first step, though, so it is possible that these things can be built into the Bill.

In response to Senator Moynihan's question about the role the electoral commission would have in providing policy advice, and with respect to the voter registration processes, it will be interesting to know if the commission will be able to provide advice as we move towards more online registration. These things interact. If we were to trial much wider use of postal voting, for example, that would have very important implications for the electoral registers, where people are registered and the point at which the electoral commission would be able to advise on those things. What is written there now is that when the electoral commission comes into play, many of these decisions on postal voting will already have been made, which really limits the ability of the commission to shape what are very important decisions.

The other very important thing about registration is that if we were to trial early voting, which is common in a lot of countries, it would also have implications for voter registration. In general, though, there are some very welcome developments and advancements in voter registration. There are some really important changes in the general scheme that will be very good if they come into play. It is just that there are other challenges ahead, and it is not entirely clear how the electoral commission would be able to shape and evolve that policy.