Briefing on the King's Speech

The King’s Speech included a commitment that the Government “will strengthen the 
integrity of elections and encourage wide participation in the democratic process”.

We are gathering evidence about the 2024 general election from voters, campaigners and 
electoral administrators, and will publish reports on voter ID and the wider delivery of the 
election later this autumn. This evidence will help us to identify opportunities to strengthen 
and make significant improvements to electoral and democratic processes, including on 
postal voting, and to counter the abuse and intimidation of candidates. More broadly we 
will look at:

• Improving the resilience and sustainability of the electoral system, protecting 
  candidates, campaigners and the people who deliver elections from new and 
  increasing threats and risks
• Ensuring that voting remains secure and accessible, providing services that meet the 
  changing needs and expectations of voters in the 21st century and removing barriers.
• Delivering significant improvements to the accuracy and completeness of electoral 
  registers, through automatic registration processes and better use of public data.
• Helping campaigners to be confident applying electoral law to their work, reducing 
  the risk of enforcement action and improving public confidence that political parties 
  and campaigners obtain and spend their money lawfully.
• Simplifying, modernising and consolidating electoral law, so that it is fair, accessible
  and future-proofed.
• Taking advantage of rapid developments in the use of data, technology and 
  information management to improve confidence, transparency and participation.

Changes to electoral policy and law should be developed through open and consultative 
processes, to help build cross-party support wherever possible. Meaningful pre-legislative 
engagement with the electoral administration community will also help to ensure 
proposals for changes to elections are workable and can be delivered in practice. 

Introducing automatic registration to improve voter registration

Evidence from our electoral registration research shows that as many as 8 million people 
across the UK are not correctly registered to vote. The current system of registration is not 
working well for voters or Electoral Registration Officers, and levels of accuracy and 
completeness are unlikely to improve without significant changes to the system.

Our case study analysis has shown how automatic electoral registration could improve 
participation by using data from other public service transactions that people frequently 
use. These should improve levels of registration among young voters, improve efficiency,
and ease the administrative burden for Electoral Registration Officers. This could be done
in the following ways:

•  When people apply for or renew a passport their details could be added 
  automatically to the register.
• When people make changes to driving licence details they could be asked whether 
  they want to update their electoral registration details at the same time.
• When young people are issued with their National Insurance number they could be 
  given a simplified register to vote application, or be added to the register 
  automatically.

The Senedd Cymru has recently passed legislation to pilot automatic registration of voters
for Senedd and local government elections in Wales. The Electoral Commission will 
independently evaluate the delivery and impact of these pilot schemes.

Improving access to voter ID

Our analysis after the May 2023 English local elections highlighted that some people 
found it harder than others to show an accepted form of ID. We continue to recommend 
that improvements should be made at the earliest opportunity to improve accessibility and 
support people in Great Britain who do not have an accepted form of ID. This includes:

• Reviewing the list of accepted ID to identify other documents that could be included
  in the list, for example travel passes that have sufficiently secure application 
  processes such as the Jobcentre Plus Travel Discount Card.
• Moving the deadline to apply for free voter ID closer to polling day.
• Enabling registered voters with accepted ID to attest (or ‘vouch’) for the identity of 
  another voter who does not have an accepted form of ID.

We will publish data and our analysis of voter ID at this year’s elections, together with our 
recommendations for any further changes, in September.

Strengthening political finance and transparency laws

We have set out recommendations for strengthening the controls on donations and loans
to political parties and campaigners, to improve assurance that money from impermissible 
donors (including from foreign sources) cannot be used to influence politics in the UK.

Registered political parties and non-party campaigners should be required to carry out risk 
assessments and enhanced due diligence checks, to ensure they know where donations 
have come from. Parties and campaigners should only accept donations from companies 
that have made enough money in the UK to fund the amount of their donation. 

Changing the franchise – votes for 16- and 17-year-olds

We will work with the Government as they bring forward proposals to implement the 
manifesto commitment to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote, providing practical 
advice on how any changes to the franchise can be implemented, as we have done for 
similar changes in Scotland and Wales. Our priority will be to ensure that all newly 
enfranchised voters know how to register and exercise their right to vote, and to support 
the electoral community to deliver franchise changes effectively.

Our most recent research shows that only 16% of 16- and 17-year-olds are correctly 
registered to vote, meaning as many as 1.2m may not be registered. Significant changes 
will be needed so that those who are newly enfranchised are registered and able to vote, 
including developing automatic registration and expanding the list of accepted voter ID, to 
include forms of ID more likely to be held by younger voters – for example PASS 
accredited proof of age cards for 16- and 17-year-olds or travel passes that have 
sufficiently secure application processes.

Modernising electoral law

The UK’s electoral laws are out-of-date, complicated and fragmented. Electoral law must
be modernised and simplified to help electoral administrators support voters, to support 
campaigners to meet their legal duties, and to enable governments and legislatures to 
deliver their policy priorities.

The UK’s Law Commissions have already provided a blueprint for electoral law reform
that is widely supported by the electoral community, which the UK’s governments should 
take steps to implement. 

Strategy and Policy statement 

The Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission has highlighted concerns about 
the impact of the draft Strategy and Policy Statement on the Commission’s role as an 
independent regulator, noting that “the draft Statement is neither necessary at this time, 
nor likely to assist the Commission in its pursuit of the aims and objectives already 
approved by the Speaker’s Committee”. The House of Commons Levelling Up, Housing 
and Communities Committee also concluded, in response to consultation on the draft 
statement, that “that no Statement is necessary at the current time: and no evidence has 
been provided justifying it”.

The Government should withdraw the Strategy and Policy Statement for the Electoral 
Commission that was designated in February 2024.