Objective five: A modern and sustainable electoral system
Our electoral system needs to keep pace with developments in technology and in the wider environment.
We need to capitalise on the scope for greater compliance, transparency and the financial savings technology can offer, while working to retain voter confidence in the electoral system. We also need to modernise the electoral system to ensure it is environmentally sustainable. We are working towards a modern and sustainable electoral system by:
• Harnessing data and technology to meet the needs of voters, campaigners and electoral administrators
• Understanding, calling for action and acting on the changing risks to the election system from the misuse of data and technology
• Continuing to build strong relationships and streamlining working practices with all bodies that are part of the electoral system
• Supporting governments and the wider electoral community to adopt a strategy and implementation plan which meets environmental standards required of our electoral system.
Work done to achieve this aim
- As well as providing expert advice and recommendations for improving the current system, we continued to explore the feasibility of modernising the voting process.
- We finalised and published feasibility studies on a range of flexible voting options, exploring how new ways of voting could be implemented.
- We published our latest accuracy and completeness research, showing that up to 8 million people across the UK are not correctly registered to vote. As part of this work, we set out case studies showing how the electoral registration system could be modernised by using more automatic registration mechanisms. This research supports our calls for more automated registration processes.
- We have worked to ensure the reports and data we publish are user-friendly and interactive, so that they can be easily understood and used by readers.
- We continued to invest time and resources in building relationships with other regulators and stakeholders to understand their views and identify opportunities for collaboration.
- We will be monitoring, advising and supporting electoral reforms across the UK and beyond.
Up to 8 million people across the UK are not correctly registered to vote (March 2023)
Performance indicators
| Indicator | Target | 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting requirements of existing and emerging or new environmental legislation | N/A – This will be developed when the UK Government’s target is published | N/A |
This indicator is intended to help the Commission measure and report its environmental impact, and to meet its requirements from existing and new environmental legislation. Targets will be developed and baselined during the first three years of the corporate plan, depending on published government targets.
Electoral Reform Society
We thoroughly agree with the Electoral Commission’s analysis regarding our out-of-date electoral registration system. We have long been calling for reforms to ensure as many people as possible are signed up to vote. We believe automatic voter
registration, where citizens are automatically enrolled on the electoral register based on information already held on other government databases, is the best approach.
Ongoing and future work to achieve this aim
- Continue to work with other regulators and stakeholders to understand their views and areas of possible collaboration so that we are working together on issues related to the delivery of elections, campaigning and confidence in the political finance system.
- Continue to monitor issues that impact modern elections and campaigns, including emerging technology such as artificial intelligence.
- Continue to use our accuracy and completeness research to advocate for a more modern voter registration system, particularly in light of the number of people currently not correctly registered.