EU referendum should not be "Yes/No" question: Electoral Commission

Voters in the referendum on Britain's continued membership of the Europpean Union will not be given simple "Yes" and "No" boxes to tick, as in the Scottish independence referendum, if the recommendation of the Electoral Commission is accepted.

In its statutory advice to Parliament on the proposed referendum question, the Commission calls for the question to be put as: "Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?" The responses would be "Remain a member of the European Union" or "Leave the European Union".

in the European Union Referendum Bill currently before Parliament, the question proposed is “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union?”, with simple "Yes" and "No" responses.

Having tested the question, the Commission has written to the Government and issued a briefing to all MPs recommending that the change should be made at report stage of the bill on 7 September.

Jenny Watson, chair of the Electoral Commission said: “Any referendum question must be as clear as possible so that voters understand the important choice they are being asked to make. We have tested the proposed question with voters and received views from potential campaigners, academics and plain language experts.

‘Whilst voters understood the question in the bill, some campaigners and members of the public feel the wording is not balanced and there was a perception of bias. The alternative question we have recommended addresses this. It is now for Parliament to discuss our advice and decide which question wording should be used."

A similar change is proposed for the Welsh language version of the question, also contained in the bill.

The Commission’s established referendum question assessment guidelines (used for previous referendum bills, including the Scottish referendum) state that the question should be neutral, which means it should not encourage voters to consider one response more favourably than another or mislead voters.

The question in the bill was viewed by some as biased because it only sets out the "remain" option in the question, and the "yes" response is for the status quo. "Consequently, while the question is not significantly leading, we have concerns about the perception that this question will encourage voters to consider one response more favourably than another", the Commission states. "These views raise concerns about the potential legitimacy, in the eyes of those campaigning to leave and some members of the public, of the referendum result – particularly if there was a vote to remain a member of the European Union. The views of campaigners in particular provided an extra dimension that had not been available in our previous assessment."

Alternative questions were tested and the Commission's assessment suggests that it is possible to ask a question which would not cause comparable concerns about neutrality, whilst also being easily understood. The Commission’s research indicates that the alternative question it has proposed addresses the concerns about potential bias that were expressed.

The UK Government is understood to have accepted the recommendation, but MPs wil have to vote on the amendment.

Click here to access the Commission’s research and assessment reports.