Ineffective Electoral Registration System Risks Disenfranchising Millions: MPs

A UK local elections 2024 information leaflet, in London on March 21, 2024. Evgenia Filimianova/The Epoch Times

The UK electoral registration system is neither effective nor efficient, risking the disenfranchisement of as many as 8 million people at the next vote, a group of MPs has warned.

Voters in England and Wales will take to the polls in May to elect local government leaders, including mayors and police and crime commissioners. According to a report by the cross-party Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, the electoral registration system needs urgent review.

The recommendation comes in the year of a general election in Britain, which is expected to bring millions of voters to polling stations in the second half of 2024.

Last year, as many as 8 million people could have been incorrectly registered at their valid address owing to poor accuracy in the registration process. The committee said that if a general election was called now, around 14 percent of the eligible population would not be able to vote.

“The Government told us that the current system of individual electoral registration strikes the right balance of accessibility, accuracy and individual freedom of choice. The evidence we received does not back this statement up - in fact, it suggests the opposite,” the report said.

Voter ID

Committee Chair Clive Betts said that recent changes to the voter registration system, such as voter ID, have been “tacked” onto a failing “Victorian era system.”

“In the year of a general election, this is a damning indictment of the UK’s electoral registration arrangements and a threat to the rights of British voters,” Mr. Betts warned.

Under the Elections Bill passed in April 2022, those turning up at polling stations will need to show valid photo ID before being given a voting slip.

Valid IDs include passports, driving licences, blue badges, biometric residence permits, defence identity cards, and national identity cards issued by the European Union, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein.

Forms of ID used by older voters, such as the 60+ Oyster photocard, have been approved, while the 18+ Oyster card, usually used by a younger pool of voters, has been excluded over security concerns.

The committee believes that the list of accepted photo IDs should be widened to include emergency services passes and non-London travel passes.

Last year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the photo ID requirement will help ensure voting is a “high-integrity process.”

According to Downing Street, the rules were aimed at preventing potential voter impersonation, rather than dealing with any widespread existing issue.

Recommendations

Young people and other groups, such as ethnic minorities, are less likely to be registered to vote, said MPs. They called for a “major review” of UK election arrangements to boost registration.

Among the recommendations made by the committee is to include schools and government bodies in signposting voter registration.

The MPs also said that registering to vote should be signposted when national insurance numbers are issued to citizens when they reach 16 years of age.

This will ensure that young people are entered on the electoral register, the report said.

The Electoral Commission should implement a better strategy to encourage people to vote and improve the way voters are informed about the registration process, the committee added.

Pressure

Local elections in May last year were the first in Britain to require voters to show a form of identification.

Research by the Electoral Commission showed that some people found it harder to vote because they either didn’t own an appropriate ID or weren’t aware of the need to bring it when voting.

In addition, electoral workers voiced concerns over the adequacy of resources available to local authorities. Administrators have reported insufficient funding, recruitment of staff, and poor implementation of the voter ID reform.

Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee members recognised pressures on election officials amid a surge of applications in the pre-election period “when voting is at the forefront of voters’ minds.”

With up to 3.4 million British citizens living abroad now able to register, administrators may “struggle to cope” with the pressures at the next general election, the report warned.