Election funding's no pie in the sky

摘要

The Electoral Commission's Kay Jenkins puts the case for all electoral services to be centrally funded, in order to make improvements which are urgently required if the credibility of our democratic process is to be maintained. This month saw the launch of the Electoral Commission's report Securing The Vote. Our report brings together the key changes that we believe are necessary in order to maintain public confi-dence in UK elections. One of the key issues is how improve-ments to the electoral process will be funded. The commission has called for core funding for electoral services - that is - funding for staffing, training, infrastructure, electoral registration services and the conduct of UK elections and referendums should come from the Consolidated Fund via the Electoral Commission. Funding should be matched with national standards that the commission would establish.