Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 28
28
Accepted in Part
Consider removing annual electoral canvas requirements through an updated registration system.
Recommendation
Establishing an electoral registration system that effectively utilises public data should mean that the register is updated all year round. As part of reform to the electoral register, the Government should consider whether the requirements for the annual canvas can be removed. This could potentially save considerable administrative effort and public money. (Recommendation, Paragraph 91) 68 Postal voting
Government Response Summary
The government is working to create an automated registration system and strengthen data provisions, which aligns with the premise that could lead to removing the annual canvas. However, it does not explicitly state it will consider removing the annual canvas requirements as part of these reforms.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
Delivering the outcomes of the Review of Electoral Registration and Conduct and the measures detailed in the Strategy for Elections will bring much needed improvements and clarity for administrators and electors and will help in some areas to standardise processes, for example as regards the postal vote system. While we note, with interest, the Committee’s recommendation of a single system for conducting counts, the process of the count is a matter for statutorily independent Returning Officers. It is they, rather than the Government, who are best placed to decide how a count should be conducted based upon their expertise and knowledge of local resourcing and infrastructure. The Electoral Commission publishes wide-ranging guidance to support Returning Officers in their decision making to help facilitate the consistent, smooth, and cohesive delivery of elections. Relating to the potential for a single electoral register, the Government recently set out its plan for improving voter registration as part of the Strategy for Elections. We believe these improvements will deliver significant benefits for electors and local authorities. We are mindful that current registers sit across almost 330 different electoral management system implementations. These are contractual arrangements between local authorities and their respective providers, and which are entirely separate from any government influence or intervention. As such, the task of consolidation into a single register would be both technically and contractually complicated. Regarding a single or integrated platform for electoral administration, we would point the Committee to the Electoral Registration Officer Portal (EROP) which hosts seven different transactional facilities from applications for an absent vote arrangement to applying for a Voter Authority Certificate. EROP integrates with all the electoral management systems, and the MHCLG Elections Digital team continues to develop, test and refine the EROP in close partnership with local authority elections teams. We thank the Committee for their recommendation regarding the positives of data sharing across government departments and agree that this would provide a number of benefits for ways of working. The Government has already begun work to take this forward, as set out in the Strategy for Elections. In summary, as we work to create a system of automated registration, we will, in parallel, act to support current registration processes, including through strengthening data provisions in law where it is necessary to do so, and using non-legislative approaches to support Electoral Registration Officers and local authorities to facilitate the effective use of data at a local level. Central government and its agencies also handle data on citizens which could be used to support registration. As set out in the Government’s blueprint for a modern digital government, harnessing this technology presents us with ever-expanding possibilities to improve the way government delivers for the public. We are also mindful of the number of applications Electoral Registration Officers receive from people already correctly registered, particularly in the busy lead up to a poll. As noted in our Strategy for Elections, we will continue work to explore how this burden may be reduced.