A fresh call for modernising democracy came last week from the people that run our elections.
The Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) have published a new report, New Blueprint for a Modern Electoral Landscape: How to bring resilience and capacity to UK democracy. The body, which represents Electoral Administrators across the UK, condemned the UK’s current electoral system, likening it to trying to operate in the 21st century using 19th century infrastructure.
They highlight how the disjointed approach to electoral law has led to a disjointed electoral landscape, which is becoming with every reform, “more complex […] increasingly difficult to understand, navigate and administer.” And it’s not only the administrators that are struggling with the current state of the system, electors are often left feeling “frustrated or disappointed”.
This new report called for dozens of recommendations to strengthen and improve democracy from both the administrator and voter perspective, including everything from registration to polling day.
The ERS welcomes various recommendations in the report specifically the calls for:
Make voting days more flexible
Flexible voting, which would allow people to vote across multiple days, including the weekend and anywhere in their local authority would improve the accessibility of polling stations. It would move our voting system inline with the way we move through our lives, giving us more options for when and where we vote.
Imagine a nurse, with an irregular work pattern who works at a hospital on the other side of their local authority from where they live. On polling day, they miss out on voting as on they cannot get to their designated polling station before it closes. Under a system of flexible voting, not only could they have voted on a day which they weren’t at work, they could have popped out on their lunch break to a polling station near their work or even managed to nip into one closer to work on their way home. Voting should be built around how we live – there is no reason for people to be denied the right to vote because of logistics.
Exploring automatic voter registration
It may seem normal to us, but why do we have to register to vote? It’s a legal requirement to be on the electoral roll, so it’s not like we have an option to not register. Many other countries have adopted automatic or more automated registration; isn’t it time the UK caught up? The AEA supports exploring the use of automatic and or more automated registration, something which we have long campaigned for. Not only would this help with the accuracy and completeness of the register, but it would remove an unnecessary barrier to voting. People that regularly move house such as young people, minority ethnic groups, people in lower DE socio-economic groups and people in privately rented accommodation tend to drop off the register, and only realise when it is too late.
Consolidating and standardising electoral law across the UK
The AEA noted that electoral law is difficult to navigate and fragmented across various Acts and statutory instruments, leaving electoral officials piecing together different bits of law to create a full picture of electoral law. They call for a consolidation of this law under a single Electoral Administration Act. Not only would this simplify navigation for administrators, but it would also bring together the national differences in election law in one document; whilst respecting the differences between the nations.
Reviewing the list of ID you can use to vote
The Elections Act 2022 introduced the requirement for photo ID to vote for the first time. Since the outset we have been adamantly against requiring voters to present photo ID to vote and have campaigned tirelessly for a U-turn on this unnecessary policy. However, if a complete U-turn is not possible, extending the list of accepted IDs is non-negotiable if we’re going to try to mitigate the negative effects of Voter ID.
The AEA has also identified that the list of accepted Voter ID needs to be extended, and the potential to include a digitally issued ID or voter authority certificate so that a physical ID is not mandatory. Voter ID has not had equal effects on all demographic groups, we know that voters over the age of 85, those with severely limiting disabilities, the unemployed, people without qualifications, those who had never voted before and people in lower DE socio-economic groups are less likely to hold ID. A number of these groups are less likely to turn out to vote in the first place. Hopefully, by increasing the number of accepted IDs and introducing a digital ID this barrier will be lessened if it is not eliminated.
Reviewing impact of Election Acts on different demographic groups
It’s not only Voter ID which has had an unequal impact on different demographic groups, the AEAs report highlighted the “unintended challenges” some groups are facing due to the Elections Act. They use the example of care home residents who, due to “the limit on how many applications each year a person may attest for absent vote and VAC [Voter Authority Certificates ] applications, combined with new identity verification requirements, had negative impacts for some care home residents”. A full review of the Elections Act 2022 should be undertaken to ensure that no demographic group is unequally impacted due to the changes.
Elections should be organised around the way we live our lives today, not stuck in a rut set in the Victorian age. The AEA’s recommendations would be a good start.
Do you care about the quality of our democracy?
Join the ERS today