Bridget Prentice

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Bridget Prentice, former Labour MP for Lewisham East. Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs.

She has a MA English Literature and Modern History from Glasgow, a Postgraduate Certification in Education University of London and LLB (Bachelor of Laws) from South Bank University. After working in education she was first elected in 1992. Once married to Gordon Prentice MP. She very rarely speaks in Parliament. In 2005 she was one of the most frugal MPs in terms of expenses and allowances.

Electronic Voting

In favour of e-voting. Wishes to increase voter turn out and bring more young people into the process. She wishes to know about any events on theses subjects and if there is time in her schedule she would like to attend.

She is the Minister responsible for the e-voting pilots at the Department for Constitutional Affairs. Still uses the young-people-turnout-boost argument even though all the pilots have proven this to not be true.

"Flexibility is very important for a number of reasons I think it might encourage, for example, those groups of people who have been less inclined to vote young people, for example, who are much more at one with new technology compared to someone like me."

Says people with disabilities will find it easier to use because of the big screens.

Radio 4 Today programme 2 May 2007

"I went yesterday to Swindon to see the pilots that they are doing on electronic voting and I was very impressed by the work that the council officials, the electoral administrators where doing there and the number of people who had pre registered to vote on-line, in fact there is every reason to believe that because of all the checks and balances that are put in to electronic voting that in some ways it is an even more secure system than postal voting and the one thing we did say was we would try the pilots out, we must be confident that electronic voting is at least as secure as any other traditional system." ... "The pilots that have been run in the cause of the past couple of weeks and obviously tomorrow on the elections by the local authorities, my officials are in touch with them on a regular bases, we think the system is secure we believe that when people vote on-line they will be able to vote securely they will even be able in Swindon for example they will be able to check after 10 o'Clock tomorrow night that their vote has been cast and it has been accepted, so I think that we are putting in place as secure and robust a system as we possibly can."

Speech to the House of Commons on electoral integrity 22 May 2005

I say to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Simon) that much has been said about what happened in Birmingham and he is right to point out that those claims were exaggerated. We need to look at the facts.
I remind the House that the recent general election, like the last one, the one before that and many before that, was run successfully, safely and securely. That is the fact.
...
The hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Djanogly) seemed to be saying that the whole electoral system was riddled with fraud. Is he saying that that is happening everywhere in the country except Huntingdon? We should not exaggerate.

Department for Constitutional Affairs Simplification Plan December 2006

Electronic counting should lead to more efficient, quicker counts of statutory elections. E-voting could provide a more accessible, flexible and efficient method of voting. Other initiatives such as use of electronic registers could also support increased accessibility and flexibility and through improved efficiency reduce human resource reqs.

Bridget Prentice Applications sought to pilot electoral innovations in 2007 17 October, 2006

"We need to make sure that people can vote when they want to and how they want. Not everyone can get to a polling station, so we need to introduce different ways of voting to make it easier for the public to exercise their right to vote.
"More and more people, and particularly young people, are using the internet in our daily lives. We need to respond to this to enable people to participate in elections and the democratic process."

When talking about postal voting to the BBC 21 December 2006

"Democracy is not only about having the choice to vote but also about having confidence in the integrity of the system."
"These measures will improve security and introduce deterrents against fraud so that people have confidence that their vote will be cast and counted fairly."

Written answers on evoting evaluating value for money 12 December 2006, personal identifiers to be provided for remote electronic voting 28 November 2006, procurement process to find providers of the e-voting pilots 6 November 2006, verification process for electronic voting 18 October 2006, internal review of voting systems no submissions have been sought 19 July 2006, Pilots to occur at the May 2006 local elections will include e-counting and the use of electronic electoral registers 20 April 2006, electronic methods of counting votes 3 March 2006,

News

2007-05-02 - Radio 4 - Today programme
Summary: ... Richard Price "I think its much easier and simpler to resort to fraud with electronic voting ... I think electronic voting at the moment is open to serious abuse" ... Bridget Prentice MP "I went yesterday to Swindon to see the pilots that they are doing on electronic voting and I was very impressed by the work that the council officials, the electoral administrators where doing there and the number of people who had pre registered to vote on-line, in fact there is every reason to believe that because of all the checks and balances that are put in to electronic voting that in some ways it is an even more secure system than postal voting and the one thing we did say was we would try the pilots out, we must be confident that electronic voting is at least as secure as any other traditional system." ... "The pilots that have been run in the cause of the past couple of weeks and obviously tomorrow on the elections by the local authorities, my officials are in touch with them on a regular bases, we think the system is secure we believe that when people vote on-line they will be able to vote securely they will even be able in Swindon for example they will be able to check after 10 o'Clock tomorrow night that their vote has been cast and it has been accepted, so I think that we are putting in place as secure and robust a system as we possibly can."
2006-12-21 - BBC - Election night dramas 'will stay'
Author: Justin Parkinson
Summary: Measures to reduce postal vote fraud will not bring an end to the drama of election nights, a minister has said. ... Mrs Prentice said better security would help preserve "confidence in the integrity of the system". The MP for Lewisham East added: "Democracy is not only about having the choice to vote but also about having confidence in the integrity of the system." "These measures will improve security and introduce deterrents against fraud so that people have confidence that their vote will be cast and counted fairly."
2006-12-04 - New Statesman - Two skinny lattes and a vote, please
Author: Becky Hogge
Summary: E-voting could make casting a ballot as easy as buying a coffee. Becky Hogge has reservations ... The democracy minister, Bridget Prentice, urged them to "make sure that people can vote when they want and how they want", noting that "young people are using the internet in [their] daily lives". The phrase "young people" suggests her aim - to raise election turnout among Britain's disillusioned youth. But is making voting as easy as buying a latte the answer? Many civic-minded techies think not. One such is Jason Kitcat, who co-ordinates the UK e-voting campaign for the Open Rights Group. "It's not obvious that e-voting is very different from e-commerce, and that's the mistake ministers make," he says. In fact, e-voting presents several technical challenges that could expose the system to fraud.
2006-11-27 - Jason Kitcat - Minister claims e-voting could boost turnout and secret ballot is individual's responsibility
Author: Jason Kitcat
Summary: The Minister responsible for the pilots at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, Bridget Prentice, was quoted several times. And I'm afraid what she had to say is cause for concern.
2006-11-09 - The Northern Echo - Casting doubt over e-voting
Summary: Bridget Prentice, the 'democracy minister', has insisted the trials will boost turnout and help the Government learn how to make voting easier and cheaper. But the Tories are furious, insisting the Electoral Commission found e-voting failed to deliver a significant increase in turnout, while costing £19m for the last big trials in 2003. The Conservatives claim e-voting is even less secure than postal voting because voters are sent a Personal Identification Number (PIN) through the post. Newspaper investigations have revealed how easily PIN numbers can fall into the wrong hands because of inaccuracies in the electoral roll. One of the problems Stateside is that e-voting does not produce a paper trail, making it impossible to investigate any allegations of vote-tampering or error. At the very least, the Government must insist on old-fashioned paper records here.
2006-11-08 - Liverpool Daily Post - Voting confidence
Summary: IT IS only when all the votes have been counted in yesterday's crucial midterm elections, in the United States, that the real controversy will begin. ... Bridget Prentice, the "democracy minister", has insisted the trials will boost turnout and help the Government learn how to make voting easier and cheaper. But the Tories are furious, insisting the Electoral Commission found e-voting failed to deliver a significant increase in turnout, while costing £19m for the last big trials in 2003.
2006-10-18 - The Register - More e-voting pilots proposed
Author: Mark Ballard
Summary: The Department of Constitutional Affairs is urging local authorities to pilot e-voting schemes in the May 2007 local elections. Bridget Prentice, Democracy Minister at the DCA, said in a statement she wanted to make it easier for people to vote if they can't get to polling stations. She also mentioned youngsters, who like to use the Internet, apparently. Ergo, the DCA needs to allow them to vote on the Internet.
2006-10-17 - eGov Monitor - Applications sought to pilot electoral innovations in 2007
Source: Department for Constitutional Affairs
Summary: Bridget Prentice, Democracy Minister at the DCA, said: "We need to make sure that people can vote when they want to and how they want. Not everyone can get to a polling station, so we need to introduce different ways of voting to make it easier for the public to exercise their right to vote." "More and more people, and particularly young people, are using the internet in our daily lives. We need to respond to this to enable people to participate in elections and the democratic process."
2006-10-17 - silicon.com - E-voting pilots on the way
Author: Andy McCue
Summary: The government is to trial electronic and internet voting at the local authority elections in England next May. ... Bridget Prentice, democracy minister at the DCA, said in a statement: "More and more people, and particularly young people, are using the internet in our daily lives. We need to respond to this to enable people to participate in elections and the democratic process."
2006-10-01 - Department Of Constitutional Affairs - European Policy Division Newsletter
Summary: As you may be aware, our Minister Bridget Prentice MP has been undertaking a number of visits to help promote the issues around youth participation/democratic engagement. She is keen to continue this work and in particular would like to support future events that promote the new provisions in the EA Act to maximise the register and encourage participation. This message is to ask you whether you are planning any events of this nature in the next six months where you feel the Minister's/DCA Officials attendance would be welcomed. The Minister will not be able to make every event but the information you provide will help us in putting together a programme of events and visits, which will hopefully help in achieving the overall aims, highlighted at the start of this message.
2006-09-07 - Speech at the Association of Electoral Administrators 2006 National Conference - Electoral Administration - Delivering the Vision
Author: Bridget Prentice MP
Summary: It is essential that we bring elections into the 21st Century. We are also working through piloting programmes to improve access to voting for those who cannot, for whatever reason, get to the polling station. The administrative pilots in May this year were successful and we are continuing to play a leading role in development of e-voting standards across Europe and the world. We have great ambitions for a multi-channel and modern electoral system, and we want to make sure that any changes are tested and evaluated before wider introduction. Paul Docker from my department will be talking about the lessons of the 2006 pilots this afternoon.

Links

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