Fury over election night cuts plan

The measures were among potential savings identified in a working paper, seen by the Times, which was prepared for the Treasury by the Ministry of Justice.

Staff could also be cut back, traditional polling cards abandoned in favour of electronic reminders and security trimmed at election night counts, it suggested.

The newspaper said the measures were designed to slash up to £65 million from the cost of running elections.

An MoJ spokeswoman said polls were constantly under review "to ensure that they meet the needs of voters and are run as efficiently as possible. But any changes to electoral procedures require careful consideration and a rigorous analysis of the evidence.

"This is a working paper collating ideas for further consideration and is part of an ongoing dialogue about election costs. It doesn't represent agreed Government policy. If any of the ideas merit further development, advice would be put to ministers and wider consultation would follow as necessary."

Democracy watchdog the Electoral Commission said any changes would have to "put the voter first" and ensure "access and security" were protected, but said it would reserve comment until firm proposals were set out for discussion.

But the ideas drew fierce condemnation from many interested groups amid fears they could further depress record-low turnouts of recent years.

John Turner, of the Association of Electoral Administrators, told the Times: "There is a real danger that despite years of trying to get the voter to engage, the Government is doing the opposite."

Ken Ritchie, of the Electoral Reform Society, said: "The health of the democratic process is more important than saving peanuts. We risk turning an economic recession into a political one."