Our future priorities

The challenge 

Turnout at elections continues to decline, and the number of disengaged or apathetic people is on the rise. While a lack of trust in politics and negative campaigning contribute to these trends, some people lack the confidence, knowledge or information to participate. For others, registering and casting their vote remains challenging, particularly for those with access needs. 

How we’ll address this challenge 

We can increase engagement by giving people greater confidence and knowledge to participate, and by providing tailored information to young people and other groups that are either under-registered or under-reached. The evidence base demonstrates our existing voter engagement work is having a positive impact, but we need to do more. We will scale up our education and partnership work, strengthening existing targeted evidence-based programmes, particularly if votes at 16 becomes UK wide. We will draw on experience in Scotland and Wales. We will continue to work with civil society partners, co-creating materials that respond directly to the needs of the under-registered or under-reached groups they support and to combat electoral fraud. 

We will continue to run targeted campaigns to inform voters about the need to register for upcoming elections. If automatic or assisted voter registration is introduced, we will take a fresh look at our registration communications and campaigns to identify which people are picked up through automated processes, and who is left behind. In the final year of this plan, we will consider if there is a need for registration or voter ID awareness campaigns, ensuring we deliver the most cost-effective ways to engage and inform voters. 

We will conduct an end-to-end review of the current electoral system to improve outcomes for every voter. This work aims to remove access barriers and increase the participation of under-registered and under-reached groups. We will support voters to develop political and media literacy skills, protecting our democracy by building trust and confidence, and reducing the impact of mis- and dis-information. Working with local councils, we will continue to provide all voters in the UK with accessible postcode specific information about upcoming elections, and will improve our digital tools to help voters. 

We will implement the standards relating to the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022, including provisions relating to regional minority languages.

Benefits we’ll deliver 

• Our work will give voters greater understanding and confidence to engage in the democratic process, particularly groups that are under-registered or under-reached. 
• It will increase voters’ access to trusted information and published data, which in turn will help inform their decisions. 
• Our work will increase voter registration, voter ID awareness and Voter Authority Certificate take up, which we expect will contribute to increased participation. 
• It will help voters identify mis- and dis-information, increasing trust, engagement and confidence in the democratic system. 
• It will reduce barriers to participation, increasing inclusion for those who are under-reached or who have access needs.

The challenge 

The electoral system and the legal framework that underpins it have evolved in a piecemeal way. The system is complex and not resilient. This presents significant challenges for electoral services teams, who are under increasing pressure to deliver more efficient and more effective services. These administrative challenges also mean that some voters experience issues trying to cast their votes – for example overseas voters, and those not on the electoral register in Northern Ireland where a canvas is only required once every 10 years. 

How we’ll address this challenge 

We will work with partners on legislative reform and will continue to advocate for the consolidation, simplification and modernisation of electoral law. We remain committed to supporting electoral services teams, and will lead calls for change to further modernise how elections are administered. 

Our experience delivering our current programme of work clearly demonstrates that electoral administrators and campaigners need increased support to navigate the complex electoral framework. We will continue to set challenging performance standards, helping electoral administrators to meet them by scaling up the support we provide and developing innovative ways to provide guidance. We will achieve greater efficiencies and systemic improvements by working with the UK’s governments and key suppliers. Ultimately these initiatives will seek to build greater resilience and better outcomes for every voter. 

We will continue to advocate for improvements to the processes by which voters register and vote. If the UK Government legislates to extend the franchise for reserved elections to 16- and 17-year-olds, we will bring learning from the Scottish and Welsh experience. Complete and accurate electoral registers are a necessary requirement, and we will work with the UK Government to ensure that reform of voter registration for reserved elections learns from current automatic registration pilots commissioned by the Welsh Government, and other national and international evidence. We will review the canvass process in Northern Ireland to maintain confidence in integrity of the electoral register.

Benefits we’ll deliver 

• Our work aims to reduce the complexity of the legal framework, reducing the barriers in law that prevent the system from keeping pace with socio-political changes. The consolidation, simplification and modernisation of electoral law and processes will simplify the administration of elections, make elections more accessible for every voter, and improve campaigners’ understanding and compliance with regulations. 
• Providing increased access to guidance and support will increase the resilience of electoral administrators, helping them to deliver more efficient and effective services that meet the needs of candidates and voters. 
• Expanding the guidance and support we provide to those we regulate will result in greater understanding and compliance, which in turn will improve voters’ trust in the financing of elections. 
• Ultimately, this work will increase engagement, inclusion and participation, particularly for younger voters, overseas voters, voters with access needs, and candidates.

The challenge 

The threats to our democracy are growing and changing. Voters are increasingly exposed to mis- and dis-information – a trend which looks set to continue – and dubious campaign practices continue to undermine trust. Campaigners reported unacceptable levels of abuse and intimidation at the 2024 UK Parliamentary general election, and this is having an impact on their ability to engage voters. Women and some ethnic minority candidates are significantly more likely to experience this abuse and intimidation, reducing the willingness of some candidates to stand for public office and limiting voter choice. Foreign interference in the form of cyber-attacks risks causing disruption to elections or the wider electoral system. Current controls on political donations need to be strengthened to protect elections from foreign influence, to improve transparency, and to give voters greater confidence in the integrity of the system. 

How we’ll address this challenge 

Working in collaboration with social media companies, the police, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Ofcom and others, we monitor and advise on these risks every day. But as these threats increase, we need to strengthen our response and bolster the tools at our disposal. We will challenge social media companies and online publishers to identify and remove digital content aimed at undermining our democracy. We will seek better standards of behaviour in campaigning to maintain voter trust. We will work with the police, the UK’s governments, political parties and campaigners to identify and respond to the causes and impact of abuse and intimidation, in particular in the forthcoming Speaker’s Conference. We will strengthen protections against existing and emerging cyber threats. We will advocate for tighter controls on political donations, and to close the loopholes on foreign company finance and donations from unincorporated associations. 

We will continue to ensure laws for political parties and campaigners are clear and followed, making sure parties and campaigners can access support to understand regulations in the way and at the time that works best for them. We will continue to publish complete and accurate political finance data. We will replace the online political finance database and its public search interface, ensuring the new system simplifies the experience of those we regulate, and that published data provides greater transparency to voters.

Benefits we’ll deliver

• These changes aim to improve public confidence in the integrity of our electoral system and how political campaigns are funded – our work will lead to greater trust in the results of elections.
• Our work will help voters identify mis- and dis-information, and will reduce activity which negatively impacts their confidence in the conduct of campaigners.
• By developing greater expertise and capability in artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital tools, we will be able to monitor the use of emerging technologies more effectively, providing greater reassurance to the public. 
• Candidates, agents and electoral administrators will have greater confidence that action will be taken when they experience abuse or intimidation, which in turn is likely to lead to a greater diversity of candidates and more choice for voters. Our work will lead to a more robust electoral system which is protected against foreign interference. 
• Our work will lead to a more robust electoral system which
  is protected against foreign interference.
• Stronger powers, and more proactive regulatory support and monitoring, will improve compliance and give greater oversight of the political finance regime. 
• By providing greater clarity on the permissibility of donations and loans, campaigners will have greater confidence that they’re operating on a level playing field. 
• Our new online political finance database and search interface will provide greater transparency of the funding of political campaigns.

The challenge 

We monitor the health of our democracy, and use our election reports, research findings and policy analysis to make independent evidence-based recommendations. But the rate of change is growing, as are risks to the system both domestically and internationally. We need to ensure that the medium- and long-term challenges and opportunities for elections in the UK are recognised, well-understood and rapidly acted upon by policymakers and the wider electoral community. 

How we’ll address this challenge 

We will build on the evidence and data we have collected over more than 20 years to develop a robust set of indicators to assess the health of the UK’s electoral system. Our current indicators are listed at Annex A, Table 1. We will particularly focus on developing our understanding of why different groups of people have significantly different experiences taking part in elections, whether as voters or candidates. We will use our insights to publish regular health checks on the electoral system, identifying where changes are needed to meet the needs and expectations of voters, campaigners and electoral administrators. 

We will use our evidence and analysis to convene and lead thinking about the future of elections. We will work in partnership and collaborate with others to develop new ideas for how elections can be improved, for example by co-creating options for how electoral registers could be managed and accessed in the future. We will further develop our links with electoral commissions in comparable democracies around the world, so that we can identify and tackle shared challenges more effectively together. 

We will continue to act independently in our work. The ability for the UK Government to designate a Strategy and Policy Statement is inconsistent with the role that an independent electoral commission plays in a healthy democracy, and we will continue to stress the importance of removing that power. 

Benefits we’ll deliver 

• The UK’s governments, parliaments and policymakers will have better access to independent evidence and advice about the medium- and long-term challenges facing elections in the UK. 
• Policy proposals to address these challenges will be based on robust evidence about the experiences of voters, campaigners and electoral administrators, and will enable the system to better meet their needs and expectations. 
• Policy proposals will be operationally workable and deliverable by campaigners and electoral administrators.

The challenge 

As our electoral system evolves and there are more differences between the UK nations’ electoral systems and practices, we must respond to increasing and more complex challenges. 

We need to adapt to meet the changing needs and expectations of voters, the UK’s governments, campaigners and electoral services teams. Our current systems and support services need investment, not only to deliver our current work, but also to deliver this ambitious and vitally important programme of work. 

How we’ll address this challenge 

We will invest in our systems ensuring they work together and represent value for money. We will develop greater digital expertise, and will explore the potential to harness new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to achieve greater efficiencies and improvements for users. We will invest in our project delivery capacity and ensure that we follow best public sector practice. We will ensure all our staff receive the training, assessment and support they need to deliver, and will pay them competitively for their work. We will invest in talent development. We will also develop our regulatory capability further, to support our stakeholders to successfully fulfil their obligations and navigate the ever more complex electoral landscape. We will improve our IT and cyber defences. 

Benefits we’ll deliver

• Investing in our systems will reduce operational risk in the handling of information, and will give us greater ability to leverage the information that we hold and collect for the benefit of the organisation and the public. 
• Our planned work will reduce the likelihood of data breaches or cyber-attacks. In turn this will reduce the possibility that personal data will be compromised. 
• Our new online political finance database will reduce administrative burdens on campaigners and will improve compliance. Data automation and the utilisation of emerging digital tools will improve the accessibility of our data, and will allow us to collaborate more effectively with external partners. We are funded and accountable to the UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd, and our plans will ensure we deliver value for money.
• Our work will ensure our staff feel valued, supported and equipped to deliver. 
• This plan, regular reporting, and transparency in our work will enable accountability through effective scrutiny – both by our funders and more widely.