EA Bulletin: 383 Wales
In this week's Bulletin...
- Report on the 2024 UK Parliamentary general election and the May 2024 elections
- Welcome to your vote week 2025
- Postal vote re-application letters
Report on the 2024 Parliamentary general election and the May 2024 elections
Today (Wednesday 13 November), we published our report on the 2024 UK Parliamentary general election and the May 2024 elections in England and Wales. The report looks at how the elections were run, how voters and campaigners found taking part, and what lessons can be learned for the future.
Overall, we found that the May and July 2024 elections were well-run, and voters continue to have high levels of confidence and satisfaction in the polls. Electoral administrators delivered in challenging circumstances but there was evidence of new layers of risk and complexity adding to an already stretched process. The capacity and resilience of suppliers in some parts of the UK remains a key concern for administrators, as well as ensuring fully functional, joined up digital systems.
- The voting options for overseas electors did not work well enough with just over half (52%) of registered overseas voters who chose to vote by post successfully returning their ballot paper in time to be counted in the general election.
- While administrators provided support to disabled voters – almost all polling stations provided most accessibility items as set out in guidance – many people were still unaware of the assistance available to them at polling stations.
- Postal voting systems did not work well enough for some voters this year, which meant that they did not receive their postal votes in time to return before polling day. The reasons for this included a lack of understanding about the time required to process and issue postal ballot packs and the availability of proxy voting, an increase in absent vote applications close to the deadline, and the fact the election coincided with the summer holiday period in some parts of the UK.
- The general election saw a record number of candidates standing and voters were able to hear a wide range of views. However, many experienced unacceptable levels of intimidation and harassment, in particular women and candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds. Over half of the respondents to our candidate survey said they avoided some form of campaigning because of fear of abuse.
Our recommendations
We have identified a number of significant improvements to support participation and trust in future elections and have made a series of recommendations, including to the UK’s governments. These include:
- Improving awareness of the accessibility support available at polling stations, including through the provision of clearer information both online and offline.
- Reforming absent voting processes (including postal voting and voting by proxy) to improve the service for voters and strengthen resilience for future elections. Key areas for potential reform include:
- Improving the information given to voters before and after they apply to vote by post
- Considering whether the current deadline for postal vote applications allows enough time to process and issue postal votes
- More flexible rules for reissuing postal votes to voters who have not received theirs
- Identifying ways for overseas voters to be able to vote securely and in time. Key areas for potential improvement include looking at the current application deadlines and exploring alternative methods of getting ballot papers to voters.
- Tackling the issue of abuse and intimidation of candidates and campaigners. We are committed to working with partners across the wider electoral community to understand what is driving abuse and intimidation, and to collectively develop effective responses to tackle these problems.
- Reviewing whether the candidate nominations process should be strengthened to make it harder for candidates to mislead voters about their true identity.
- Addressing the challenges to the resilience of the electoral system, including funding. The UK Government has recently announced a strategic review of electoral registration, and this should consider whether the funding to run general elections continues to be appropriate and adequate to deliver in a way that meets voters’ expectations. While forums like the WECB/EMB can ensure mitigations and contingencies are put in place, supply chain failure risks disrupting the entire system.
- Improving digital systems to better support electoral administrators. The UK and Welsh Governments should work with the electoral community to continue to improve the digital systems that it provides and ensure it carefully manages the implementation of changes to digital systems.
With the next scheduled general election five years away, there is an opportunity to make important reforms to ensure the system is ready and resilient. We are ready to work with the UK government and wider electoral community to ensure the system is best placed to support those that deliver elections. We are committed to the importance of implementing changes in enough time for the electoral community to prepare in advance of future elections.
You can read our findings and recommendations in full in our report (Welsh and English).
Welcome to your vote week 2025
Every year we ask schools and youth groups to join us in celebrating democracy by delivering democratic education with their students and young people.
Welcome to Your Vote Week will be taking place from Monday 10 March to Sunday 16 March 2025.
We aim to support young people to develop the knowledge and confidence they need to cast their vote and discover other ways to get involved in democracy. Welcome to Your Vote Week provides a time in the year for teachers and educators to start the conversation with their young people.
Sign up now to take part in Welcome to Your Vote Week 2025 and receive free resources ahead of the week to help you get involved.
Our year-round education resources are also available to support you to take part in the week. These include:
• a series of six lesson plans, tailored to the curriculum
• short activities for youth groups or in form time or registration
• youth facing information including quizzes and animated videos
More information on Welcome to Your Vote Week can be found here.
If you have any questions about the week, please contact [email protected]
Postal vote re-application letters
In Bulletin 382 we provided links to postal vote re-application letters to support you with the requirement to write out to domestic electors who have a postal vote arrangement in place which is due to expire on the 31 January of each year.
Whilst you may send your postal vote reapplication letters to any affected electors now, you should not cancel any postal votes as a result of a failure to apply until after the deadline of 31 January 2026.
As detailed in our guidance on the reapplication process, legislation requires EROs to write to all electors whose postal vote for UK Parliamentary and Police and Crime Commissioner elections is due to expire by 31 January 2026 inviting them to re-apply.
You can find more information in our guidance on the process for informing postal voters of the requirement to re-apply and in our guidance on the contents of the postal vote re-application notification, which should be read alongside the template reapplication letter.
For electors who have a permanent postal voting arrangement for Senedd and/or local government elections, the existing arrangements remain in place. EROs must notify postal voters when their signature on the personal identifiers record is more than five years old that a fresh signature is required for their postal voting arrangement(s) for these polls to continue. In this case, absent votes should be cancelled if no response is received within six weeks of the original notice being sent.
You can find our guidance on the postal vote refresh here.
Should you have any queries about the process, or require any further support, please contact your local commission team who will be happy to help.