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Interim Electoral Management Board
27/10/2009
The Electoral Commission has published a report on the workings of the Interim Electoral Management Board which is jointly funded by the Scottish Government and the Scotland Office.
Bruce Crawford, Minister for Parliamentary Business said:
"Since the publication of the Gould Report, the Scottish Government has worked with electoral professionals to improve the administration and management of elections in Scotland.
"We have legislated to separate local government elections from elections to the Scottish Parliament to remove the potential for confusion identified by Gould. The next local government elections in Scotland will place in 2012.
"We have funded, with the Scotland Office, the work of the Interim Electoral Management Board for Scotland which the Electoral Commission concludes is working well and delivered a successful election to the European Parliament in June this year. It was always our intention to review the work of the Board in the light of the Electoral Commission's evaluation.
"The Gould Report recommended that responsibility for elections to Holyrood should be transferred to the Scottish Parliament. The recent Commission on Scottish Devolution agreed. The Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament both agree with this approach, but as yet the UK Government has not accepted the case for change.
"We will now work with the Board to improve the structure for electoral administration in Scotland. Many of the Electoral Commission's recommendations can be implemented without legislation and we would support this and urge the Board to take the necessary action. Subject to Parliamentary timetables and Parliamentary approval we will legislate where necessary.
"We are already working with the Electoral Management Board to procure an efficient and reliable system of e-counting for the 2012 elections.
"We welcome the Electoral Commission report and agree that with that 'Scottish Elections have come a long way' and that 'we all need to work hard to make sure that voters of Scotland have the best service they possibly can'."