3 Recent developments
Individual
Electoral Registration
20. Our interim report looked closely at the ongoing
transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER), a new system
of electoral registration where each individual voter registers
to vote individually, and supplies identifying information such
as their date of birth and National Insurance number, rather than
being registered by the head of the household. IER went live in
England and Wales on 10 June 2014 and in Scotland on 19 September
2014 (Individual Electoral Registration has been operating in
Northern Ireland since 2002). The transition to IER is the most
significant change to electoral administration in decades, and
was pursued with a view to tackling electoral fraud and increasing
confidence in the integrity of the electoral register.
WHERE THINGS WERE IN NOVEMBER 2014
21. When we published our interim report in November
2014, the transition to IER was at an early stage. Online registration
had gone live and as of 18 October 2014 there had been 1.8 million
applications to register to vote. Data matching—the process
of using publicly held data to confirm previously registered voters
on to the new electoral register—had been used in England
and Wales to confirm approximately 36.9 million voters on to the
new registers, with 5.5 million entries not then confirmed. A
particular issue that had arisen was the confirmation rate for
16 and 17 year olds,[37]
which was only 52% (as compared to 87% in total).
THE SITUATION NOW
22. Over 4 million applications to register to vote
have been made since the launch of IER, with the vast majority
of these applications being made online. The Electoral Commission
has also reported on the confirmation process in Scotland, where
3.6 million entries were confirmed, but 590,000 were not positively
matched.[38] This means
the overall match rate for Great Britain was 87%, equivalent to
40.5 million confirmed register entries. The Electoral Commission
is due to publish a report in February 2015 on the progress of
the transition to IER in England and Wales, which it says will
"assess how the transition has progressed from the end of
the confirmation exercise up to the publication of the revised
registers".[39]
Bite the Ballot has told us that this report cannot come soon
enough, stating: "The outlook, as regards already low levels
of incorrectly 'matched' attainers and students, is grim and extremely
concerning."[40]
The Leader of the Opposition told us that "Labour is deeply
concerned about the pace of the transition to IER and the effect
this will have on the democratic deficit" and "the recent
register has seen a 1 million decrease over the last year as the
introduction of IER has begun to affect results."[41]
The Green Party for England and Wales told us that they were "especially
disturbed that students and young people will be adversely affected
unless they are expressly informed and encouraged to register",
and supported the suggestion that registration should be available
to students in schools and colleges.[42]
They also recommended a widespread government sponsored media
campaign to raise awareness and encourage registration amongst
young people and students. The Government has told us that "there
is no room for complacency" on this issue and that it "remains
committed to ensuring every eligible voter is registered and can
exercise their democratic right at the ballot box."[43]
23. In our interim report we recommended that Electoral
Registration Officers (EROs) make every effort to reach voters
who have not been automatically transferred to the new register.
To that end Bite the Ballot has suggested some "easy, engaging
and efficient methods of registration", which are:
· taking
part in National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) 2015;
· undertaking
voter registration (or engagement) sessions in every local school
and further education college, and
· better use
of targeted advertising via social media to locate specific groups
of under-registered people.[44]
END OF TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
24. The Electoral Registration Act 2013 makes transitional
arrangements for voters to remain on the electoral register until
December 2016 even if they are not either confirmed onto the new
register via data matching or registered individually. In December
2016 those individuals who had been kept on the register under
transitional arrangements would be removed. The legislation also
provides the Government with the option of bringing forward to
December 2015 the date on which these transitional arrangements
will end—affecting eligibility to vote ahead of the elections
in May 2016 for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, the Mayor
of London, and various local elections. The Electoral Commission
will report in June 2015 on the effectiveness of the transition
to IER up to that point, with a view to informing the decision
of whether to bring forward the end date for transitional arrangements.[45]
The Commission has stated:
The range of polls scheduled for 2016 means that
everywhere in Great Britain will have elections on 5 May 2016
and we would want to be satisfied that particular areas are not
likely to have significantly worse levels of registration than
others before making any recommendation on bringing forward the
end point of the transition.[46]
When we spoke to Sam Gyimah MP, Minister for the
Constitution, in January 2015, he told us:
The Electoral Commission will come out with its
assessment and the Government at the time will have to act on
that basis.[47]
Similarly, the Government's response to our interim
report stated:
It is for the next Government and Parliament
to make the decision, following the advice and assessment of the
Electoral Commission, as to whether the transition should conclude
at the end of 2015 or at some stage during 2016. We anticipate
that the completeness and accuracy of the registers will be at
the centre of these deliberations.[48]
25. The evidence we received from the Liberal Democrat
Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional and Political Reform
supported the implementation of IER. With regard to the decision
by the next Government as to whether to bring forward the end
of transitional arrangements for IER, they stated:
In light of the considerable work needed to ensure
hard-to-reach groups are registered individually, and the impacts
on boundary changes, we consider it very unlikely that an early
end to carryover will be appropriate.[49]
Brent Council has also told us they agree with our
recommendation that "the Government not bring forward the
end date for the transitional arrangements to IER unless electoral
registers are successfully updated and that adequate arrangements
are put in place to boost registration."[50]
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Voter Registration stressed
"the need to ensure a successful (i.e. improvement on figures
pre-IER) transition before bringing forward the end date of the
transitional arrangements concerning IER."[51]
Additional funding for electoral
registration
26. In July 2013 the Government announced that it
was making £4.2 million available to maximise voter registration.[52]
We considered the distribution of these funds in our interim report,
and recommended that the Government look favourably on requests
for additional funding, which we felt was likely to be necessary.[53]
The Association of Electoral Administrators welcomed this recommendation,
and told us that in order to reach all registered voters who have
not been automatically transferred to the new register, "Electoral
Registration Officers will need funding and resources to carry
out a mini canvass early in the New Year."[54]
27. The Government announced in January 2015 that
a further £9.8 million would be made available to maximise
voter registration.[55]
The majority of funds (£6.8 million) are to be distributed
to local authorities to support the work of Electoral Registration
Officers, while some funds will be used for wider activities including
those directed at enabling specific under-registered groups such
as students, overseas electors and armed service personnel to
register to vote. The Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee
on Constitutional and Political Reform told us that they strongly
welcomed the announcement of additional funding to maximise voter
registration, and stated that it was right that this money is
being focused on those groups most at risk of under registration.[56]
The Government's response to our interim report also addressed
the additional funding, stating: "In line with the Committee's
recommendation, this funding package consists of a number of components
that will support efforts to improve registration among different
types of electors and under registered groups."[57]
Bite the Ballot told us that they looked forward to learning how
to apply for this funding, and that progress on this "couldn't
come quickly enough".[58]
28. In our interim report we recommended that the
Electoral Commission look into service level agreements with agencies,
bodies and organisations which had a proven track record of increasing
electoral registration, to which the Commission responded that
its focus had been to engage with a wide variety of partners to
reach groups that were not currently registered, and to provide
non-financial support to partner organisations.[59]
29. In a time of austerity it is vital that funding
for elections is protected. We welcome the additional £9.8
million the Government has made available to maximise registration
during the transition to IER, particularly in light of our recommendation
that the Government should look favourably on requests for additional
funding. Now this funding has been made available, it is important
that it is distributed to those organisations which can most effectively
maximise registration ahead of the general election. We recommend
that the Government move with speed to make these new funds for
maximising electoral registration available, and report back to
Parliament before Dissolution with further details of how those
funds which are not being allocated to local authorities are to
be distributed. We also recommend that the Government should recognise
the possibility that further funding will be necessary to support
the implementation of IER and to ensure that electoral registers
are maintained and enhanced in the future, and that it should
be prepared to allocate further funds if a proven need is demonstrated.
Electoral fraud
30. Our interim report considered the importance
of electoral fraud in relation to the question of voter engagement.
We concluded that, given the need to address the current low levels
of voter engagement, it was important that any measures to address
electoral fraud were proportionate to the scale of the problem
and that consideration be given to the impact such measures could
have on legitimate voters. A number of respondents to our consultation
addressed the Electoral Commission's proposal that voters be required
to present photographic identification at polling stations, with
most responses which addressed the issue arguing against the proposal.[60]
The Government told us that it had not seen "any evidence
to suggest that personation at polling stations is significant
problem that needs to be addressed by the introduction of an ID
requirement at polling stations" and that it was "not
convinced that introducing a photographic ID requirement on a
national basis is a necessary or proportionate response, and believe
it could potentially disenfranchise significant numbers of legitimate
voters."[61] The
Electoral Commission has stated that it has "found little
evidence to suggest that the identity-checking scheme applied
in Northern Ireland presents difficulties for people in terms
of accessibility", but that it was "undertaking further
consultation and analysis to identify a proportionate and accessible
scheme for verifying identity at polling stations in Great Britain."[62]
The Commission expects to report details of its recommendation
shortly after the 2015 general election.
Conclusion
31. We reaffirm the conclusions and recommendations,
made in paragraphs 51 to 59 of our interim report, concerning
the transition to IER and the Electoral Commission's proposals
for combatting electoral fraud.
37 16 and 17 year olds who will turn 18 during the
period an electoral register is in force are eligible to register
to vote. Back
38
Analysis of the confirmation live run in Scotland, Electoral Commission,
November 2014 Back
39
Written evidence from the Electoral Commission [PVE 81] Back
40
Written evidence from Bite the Ballot [PVE 115] Back
41
Written evidence from Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Opposition
[PVE 123] Back
42
Written evidence from the Green Party for England and Wales [PVE 96] Back
43
Voter engagement in the UK: Government Response to the Committee's
Fourth Report of Session 2014-15, page 3 Back
44
Written evidence from Bite the Ballot [PVE 115] Back
45
Written evidence from the Electoral Commission [PVE 81] Back
46
Ibid. Back
47
Oral evidence taken on 12 January 2015, HC (2014-15) 600, Q132
[Sam Gyimah MP] Back
48
Voter engagement in the UK: Government Response to the Committee's
Fourth Report of Session 2014-15, page 4 Back
49
Written evidence from the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee
on Constitutional and Political Reform [PVE 106] Back
50
Written evidence from Brent Council [PVE 49] Back
51
Written evidence from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Voter
Registration [PVE 114] Back
52
Funding for new ways to encourage voter registration, Gov.uk,
5 February 2014 Back
53
Voter engagement in the UK, paras 58-59 Back
54
Written evidence from the Association of Electoral Administrators
[PVE 72] Back
55
HC Deb, 9 January 2015, col 18WS Back
56
Written evidence from Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee
on Constitutional and Political Reform [PVE 106] Back
57
Voter engagement in the UK: Government Response to the Committee's
Fourth Report of Session 2014-15, page 3 Back
58
Written evidence from Bite the Ballot [PVE 115] Back
59
Written evidence from the Electoral Commission [PVE 81] Back
60
Written evidence from Brent Council [PVE 49], the Liberal Democrat
Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional and Political Reform
[PVE 106] Back
61
Voter engagement in the UK: Government Response to the Committee's
Fourth Report of Session 2014-15, page 4 Back
62
Written evidence from the Electoral Commission [PVE 81] Back
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