Weekend voting will be on the cards for future elections, if proposals from the Electoral Commission are implemented.
The proposal for weekend voting comes in a report from the Electoral Commission on the operation of the polls for the European Parliament and English local authorities in June this year.
The Commission says the elections were well run and that 80% of people were pleased with the process of voting.
But a significant number of people who didn’t vote said that they would be more likely to join-in a future ballot, if polling booths opened at the weekend.
The Electoral Commission has previously indicated that ballot boxes being available earlier than polling day itself - possibly at the weekend - could combat voter apathy, without affecting the security of the ballot.
In a statement the Electoral Commission said:-
At a time when there is concern about participation in politics, the Commission is again calling on the Government to bring forward a strategy for how to modernise our elections and run them differently in the future to make them both more accessible and more secure.
Whilst the report published today shows that the elections went well, no one involved in running elections should be complacent: there were some problems at the 2009 elections, and a general election, which is due anytime in the next seven months, places even greater pressures on the system and those involved in running our elections:
· A general election needs to be organised in a much shorter period of time as the Prime Minister can announce an election just seventeen working days prior to polling day
· More candidates and agents, including more independent candidates than normal may be taking part in this General Election for the first time.
· Turnout is generally higher at a general election than any other election in the UK which has a particular impact on polling stations and counts.
· There is not the same level of regional co-ordination at a general election as there is at a European election meaning less support for Returning Officers.
These additional pressures mean that issues such as problems with the production of ballot papers and postal votes which affected voters in a relatively small number of areas at the elections in June need to be addressed immediately.
The Electoral Commission is currently working closely with local authorities to ensure plans are in place for the next UK parliamentary general election.
In 2008 the Commission introduced performance standards for Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers. We collected data from Returning Officers for the first time at the June elections and the report includes the key findings from this work. Amongst other points, the Commission found that over 90% of Local Returning Officers in Great Britain met all three of the performance standards set by the Commission relating to planning and organising the European Parliamentary elections.
However, a significant number of Local Returning Officers did not have formal plans in place for ensuring the integrity of the ballot or for public awareness activities. We will publish a full analysis of this information later in 2009, but the important point is that Returning Officers will need to improve in time for the General Election.
As part of its work to make sure that administrators are ready for the General Election, the Commission has sent out an election essentials checklist for all Returning Officers which included things they must do when preparing for the forthcoming general election.
Jenny Watson, chair of the Electoral Commission, said: "One of the Electoral Commission's main aims is to make sure that elections are well run. With a General Election just months away, I'm very glad to see that the June 2009 elections were, on the whole, a success. But a general election is different. It needs to be organised in a much shorter period of time, and it usually produces a higher turnout than European Elections do. So it poses more challenges than those elections held this summer and there is no room for complacency.
"Looking to the future there is still more that can be done to make sure that our electoral system is accessible and secure, and we remain keen to see the Government's electoral modernisation strategy. The evidence from the June 2009 elections suggests that the introduction of advance voting at a local polling station prior to election day itself would be popular with voters and give them more of a chance to have their voice heard."
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