We want to see big changes to the electoral registration system in the UK.

The launch of the government’s online registration service was a big leap forward. It’s helped those less likely to be registered, like young people and British citizens overseas.

But people’s expectations in a digital age are constantly evolving, and voter registration needs to keep up.

We’re calling on the UK government to build on this success and make electoral registration even simpler and more accessible to voters.

Changes we want to see

We want to see:

  • better use of public data, like from other government services, to make registration easier for voters
  • electoral registration being encouraged all year round, not just in the run up to an election
  • a more joined-up electoral registration system to reduce duplicate registrations and encourage registration all year round

Changes like these will:

  • create opportunities for electoral registration to be automated, or integrated with other public services
  • help electoral registration officers identify and potentially register eligible citizens, while keeping the electoral register up to date
  • reduce the overall costs of the electoral registration system by making it more efficient
  • improve accessibility by providing more ways to register to vote

What's happening now

We’ve been exploring a number of options, like the use of public data, automated and automatic registration, and ways to detect and manage duplicate applications.

Creating a more efficient system is possible. Read our report