Written question asked by Mark Tami (Labour) on Monday, 23 February 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 March 2004. It was answered by Chris Leslie (Labour) on Monday, 1 March 2004 on behalf of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Dept for Constitutional Affairs

Question: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, what assessment the Department has made of (a) incentive schemes and (b) payments to encourage voter participation.

Answer: Mark Tami: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment the Department has made of (a) incentive schemes and (b) payments to encourage voter participation. [156535] Mr. Leslie: None. Any gift or promise of a gift of money, or any other `Valuable consideration', to an elector is regarded under electoral legislation as a bribe even if the gift is made simply to encourage the elector to vote or refrain from voting. This is a basic feature of any democratic electoral system which purports to be open and fair to all electors. Paying electors or offering gifts to turn out to vote would be likely to increase the likelihood of electoral abuse and fraud.

Secondary information