Automatic voter registration pilots add over 16,000 new voters to the register

The Electoral Commission has today published its evaluation report on Welsh Government pilots testing automatic voter registration in Wales.

Earlier this year the Welsh Government set up pilot schemes with four local authorities -Carmarthenshire, Gwynedd, Newport and Powys - to test if locally held data could be used to register voters without application, known as automatic voter registration.  

The pilots identified and automatically added just over 14,500 new voters to the registers. This represented 2-8% of the register in each local authority area. Around 1,500 attainers (young people aged 14-15) were also registered through the pilot in Gwynedd and Powys, representing between 16-37% of all potential attainers in those areas.  

The Commission’s evidence suggests nearly all of these additions to the register appear accurate.  

Dame Elan Closs Stephens CBE, Electoral Commissioner for Wales said:

“We know from our previous research that approximately 400,000 people in Wales aren’t registered correctly and that half of people in Wales think automatic registration would be an improvement to the current registration system.  

“These pilots suggest that automatic registration could be rolled out in Wales and could have a positive impact on the completeness of the electoral registers and participation in Welsh elections.

“The automatic registration process did not require action from individual voters unless they chose to opt out. However, it did mean significant work and resource for electoral administrators. We have made several recommendations for the Welsh Government to consider ahead of any further roll-out.”

Before taking a final decision on whether to implement automatic registration, the report recommends that the Welsh Government should:    

• Consider data from the annual canvass to assess the data matching accuracy  
• Consider the time and resources needed to ensure Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and their teams can deliver a new automatic registration system successfully
• Make an assessment of the overall cost of implementation alongside the likely benefits  
• Consider how a form of automatic registration introduced in Wales is best implemented in order to allow for efficient future integration with any UK-wide system.  

Ends

For more information contact Ella Farrell, Communications and Engagement Officer (Wales) on 029 2034 6814, out of office hours 07789 920 414 or [email protected].