As part of our work to deliver each of our priorities, we’re committed to helping every eligible voter, campaigner and partner to participate in our democracy equally. We understand that people’s experience of democratic participation may be impacted by a variety of barriers to participation.
We’re confident that addressing the causes of disadvantage will improve equality and fairness, and increase participation and democratic choice. Tackling barriers to democratic participation is critical to our work, and our ambition is to look beyond our statutory obligations.
Over the next five years, we will develop research methods to assess equality impacts for different groups of voters and campaigners when evaluating the health of the democratic system. This will include working to better understand the compounding impacts and disadvantages which some people may experience. We will implement the standards relating to the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022, including provisions relating to regional minority languages.