Objective: Resilient local electoral services

Local electoral services face significant economic, social, and environmental challenges which risk impacting on their ability to deliver well-run elections and referendums. We are working to help local authorities and electoral administrators to respond to these pressures.

We are also working to support the consistent delivery of high-quality services for voters, and the development of resilient local electoral services by:

• setting challenging performance standards for local electoral services
• providing accessible guidance and support for electoral administrators
• supporting increased resilience of local electoral services
• ensuring the electoral system works effectively.

• The capacity and resilience of electoral administrators remains a significant challenge. Our May 2022 election reports found that administrators struggled to recruit staff and find suitable venues for polling stations and the count. The Commission called for sufficient clarity on funding to effectively prepare for changes from the Elections Act. 
• The implementation of the Elections Act is having a significant impact on electoral administrators, and we have continued to support their understanding and preparation for these changes. This has included the development of guidance and resources to support implementation of the new provisions, as well as the continued provision of an advice service for local authorities, delivered through our devolved and English regional teams.
• As always, we produced comprehensive guidance on preparing for and delivering the May 2023 elections, designed to support Returning Officers and electoral administrators. Resources were also developed to help local authorities to communicate the new voter ID requirements to their residents. This is an important part of our objective to support local authorities and electoral administrators to deliver effective, sustainable and resilient services. 
• We consulted on new Returning Officer performance standards, which have been designed to provide a robust framework for the delivery of well-run elections, support the effective and consistent implementation of legislative changes, and enable transparent reporting on the delivery of elections. The standards also address the changes arising from the Elections Act. They were finalised and laid in parliaments in December 2022, and are now in place. 
• We have also updated the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) framework, last reviewed in 2021, to reflect the new responsibilities on EROs arising from the Elections Act.

• As part of our post-election reporting, we will be gathering data from local authorities and surveying those responsible for delivering elections to understand the impact of the new measures, including how they found implementing voter ID. 
• We will seek feedback to enable us to evaluate our new guidance for Returning Officers and to identify and take on board any learnings that emerge. 
• We will update our guidance to reflect further changes to elections and electoral registration, including reforms to postal, proxy and overseas voting rules, arising from the Elections Act.
• We will continue to use the performance standards to support the consistent delivery of high-quality, electoral services for voters and to support the ongoing resilience of local electoral services.
• We will continue to work with the Electoral Coordination and Advisory Board to address challenges around resilience and capacity, including in relation to polling station staffing and suppliers.