The third largest party in the UK House of Commons, the Scottish National Party (SNP) has made fresh calls for electronic voting to be introduced in Parliament.
Currently the 650 MPs in the House of Commons spend 15 to 20 minutes queuing up in voting lobbies in the Palace of Westminster.
SNP MP, Hannah Bardell, said that the “time wasted” currently would be “much better spent representing our constituents and tackling the issues that impact on their lives.”
Electronic voting is currently used by representatives in the devolved UK Parliaments in Wales and Scotland.
Ms Bardell further argued that:
“The House of Common’s reluctance to modernise its outmoded procedures is part of the reason that parliament is far from family friendly and continues to be considered alien and remote by the public.
As we move towards the start of 2016, it’s well and truly time to create a modern parliament that is fit for a modern democracy.”
This is a suggestion that has been supported by the Labour Party in the past and the Green Party’s former leader and only MP, Caroline Lucas.
The UK Parliament website states that “many members view the procedure of voting in person through the lobbies as an essential opportunity to speak to or lobby senior colleagues.”
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