Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 43
43
Acknowledged
Implement a reliable system for eligible voters to cast ballots by the next general election.
Conclusion
A system capable of reliably allowing eligible voters to cast their ballot must be in place in time for the next general election. (Recommendation, Paragraph 119)
Government Response Summary
The government commits to encouraging full participation and building more resilience into the postal voting system to benefit overseas voters. However, it does not provide a specific commitment or plan for a reliably capable system to be in place for the next general election, noting instead that overseas voting systems were recently reviewed and challenges exist for alternative methods.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
This Government is committed to encouraging full participation by legitimate voters in our elections. Fixing the foundations of our elections delivery processes, including making changes to help build more resilience into the postal voting system, will benefit all administrators and voters, including those living overseas. Overseas electors continue to be able to vote by proxy, post or in person, and proxy voters are also able to acquire postal votes. Systems and processes for overseas electors were in scope of our recently concluded Review of Electoral Registration and Conduct and were considered by the Review’s Working and Steering Groups as part of this process. The Government notes the Committee’s recommendations on considering the mechanisms available to overseas electors to support them to vote. Regarding the possibility of whether UK citizens living abroad could vote in UK elections at local consular and embassy buildings, there are concerns that this approach would result in significant logistical and administrative burdens that could compromise the efficiency and expediency of elections. This includes how ballot papers for all 650 constituencies would be made available at embassies and how votes would then be counted in a timely manner. Importantly, allowing voting in embassies would remove direct control of the process from Returning Officers, and may limit the opportunity for effective oversight and scrutiny of electoral processes. Proposals relating to introducing telephone-based assisted voting for overseas electors were also raised by the Committee. This would be a significant change to voting at UK elections and would raise a number of technical and logistical issues, which would need to be worked through further to ascertain whether such a process would be viable. While th