Postal voting plans back on track

Post boxes will replace ballot boxes

MPs have voted to restore plans to do away with ballot boxes at elections in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West.

They reversed a Lords bid to restrict an experiment on all-postal voting to the East Midlands and the North East.

Barring further objections from the Lords, this means the only way to vote at the local council and European elections in June will be by post.

MPs also voted down proposals to tighten the rules on postal voting.

In the debate on Monday evening, some Conservative MPs claimed the government was going against advice from the Electoral Commission.

But Constitutional Affairs Minister Christopher Leslie insisted: "The Electoral Commission always said it was up to the government how many regions it wants to pilot."

The government has already announced that the referendums due in October on whether there should be elected regional assemblies in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East and the North West will be all-postal ballots.