IRRV Alert - week ending 12th March 2021
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How to oversee fair elections in a digital age to be probed by Committee (9 March 2021)
How to oversee fair elections in a digital age to be probed by Committee
9 March 2021
The way that digital campaigning has revolutionised elections, and its impacts on the Electoral Commission in overseeing elections and regulating political finance, are some of the key issues to be considered in an inquiry into the work of the Commission being held by the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
- Watch Parliament TV: The work of the electoral commission
- Inquiry: The work of the electoral commission
- Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Purpose of the session
The first public evidence session of the inquiry will take testimony from academic experts in the fields of electoral administration, election finance and the impact of digital technology on campaigning.
The wider role, remit, powers and effectiveness of the Electoral Commission, the body charged with overseeing the delivery of free and fair elections in the UK, are also likely to be probed in the following areas:
- How the Commission oversees the practical delivery of elections
- How effectively it fulfils its role as regulator of political finance
- Whether it has adapted to the social media revolution, including regulatory oversight
- Whether its management structures are sufficiently accountable
- Whether the Commission commands public and political confidence
The inquiry has already received nearly 40 pieces of written evidence.
Witnesses
Tuesday 9 March
From 10.00 am
- Dr Alistair Clark, Reader in Politics, Newcastle University
- Dr Kate Dommett, Senior Lecturer in the Public Understanding of Politics, University of Sheffield
- Professor Toby James, Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of East Anglia