Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
Paragraph: 15
The Committee notes the high levels of satisfaction in the Electoral Commission’s role in guiding...
Conclusion
The Committee notes the high levels of satisfaction in the Electoral Commission’s role in guiding the practical administration of elections and delivering referendums. Nevertheless, we remain concerned by the challenges that lie ahead for the Electoral Commission in supporting electoral administrators, political parties, campaigners, and voters to understand and navigate the increasing complexity of electoral law and levels of divergence across the UK.
Government Response Summary
The government states that the Voter Identification Regulations have been affirmed by both Houses and are on track to be in force for mid-January and states that the electoral landscape will become more diverse as a result of many factors.
Paragraph Reference:
15
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government laid the draft Voter Identification Regulations before Parliament on 1st November 2022. The Regulations have, as required, been the subject of statutory consultation with the Electoral Commission and the content discussed with a wide range of partners in the electoral sector throughout its development. We are grateful to all those experts who gave their time to this work. The Voter Identification Regulations have since been affirmed by both Houses and are on track to be in force for mid-January. In addition, the Political Finance and Notional Expenditure statutory instruments are now in force, with the Accessibility statutory instruments due to come into force on 29th December. The Elections Act confers multiple new activities for the electoral sector, in addition to business-as-usual activities. Many of these changes will be complex to implement, and so in order to ensure the sector can absorb these changes, the intention has always been to implement these measures over a sequenced and pragmatic timetable. As previously described a further tranche of measures, including those extending the franchise for overseas electors, enabling online applications for absent voting and reforming the rules on postal and proxy votes will be brought into force from Summer 2023, with further measures to follow in the autumn in good time for the scheduled polls in May 2024.2 Our detailed programme timeline and plan has been shared with the Electoral Commission to support their own delivery plans for associated guidance and communications, and officials will continue to coordinate with the Commission throughout implementation. 2 Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Policy Paper – ‘Overseas electors: Delivering ‘votes for life’ for British expatriates’, 3 February 2022 (last accessed 9 January 2023) The Government notes that the electoral landscape will become more diverse as a result of many factors, including current and planned changes in the devolved administrations and the changes from the Elections Act. This is a natural consequence of devolution. We are actively working with devolved counterparts including through the Interministerial Group for Elections and Registration, to manage issues that arise from this divergence and are committed to finding solutions that reduce both burdens on administrators and any potential electoral confusion that might arise.