Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 44
44
Rejected
Government dismisses alternative overseas voting methods despite their successful use in other countries.
Conclusion
Other countries make greater use of other means of voting for overseas voters in addition to a postal vote option. We are disappointed that the Government has ruled out considering the Electoral Commission’s recommendations for embassy and telephone voting for those living overseas as part of its current review. We appreciate some of the 70 technical issues the Government raised. However, we believe that other recommendations we have made to modernise the systems for elections, such as the creation of a single electoral register, would start to produce a system better able to overcome these problems. (Conclusion, Paragraph 120)
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's recommendations for overseas voting mechanisms but reiterates concerns regarding the significant logistical and administrative burdens of implementing embassy/consulate and telephone voting, effectively maintaining its stance against considering these options.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
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