Electoral administrators call for “urgent reform” to election law

Electoral legislation – some of it one hundred years old – is becoming “ever less compatible with modern expectations and ways of working”, a report by the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) has said.

The report, The Electoral Landscape in 2019, added: “Piecemeal attempts to update it is introducing unnecessary risk and inconsistency between different types of election.”

The AEA said urgent reform was needed to election law, funding and support.

The report, which reviews this year’s scheduled local elections and unscheduled European Parliamentary elections, claims that “there remains an unrealistic expectation that elections will always be delivered regardless of the landscape, timing, funding or the capacity of the professionals administering them”.

Issues identified by the report include:

  • expectations of overseas postal voters versus the tight timescales for printing, posting and returning postal ballot packs – “particularly in relation to unscheduled polls such as the European Parliamentary elections”.
  • capacity pressures for electoral administrators running ongoing voter registration and scheduled polls against a backdrop of unscheduled elections, expected changes to Parliamentary constituency boundaries, the proposed Overseas Electors Act and new legislation in both Wales and Scotland as a result of devolution.
  • worries that budgets calculated by government to fund elections, particularly short-notice polls, are insufficient and adding pressure on councils to cover shortfalls.
  • additional strain on council budgets due to delays in settling election accounts. “Only 75% of funding for polls is made available in advance and as of 31 March 2019, 45% of constituency claims for the 2017 unexpected general election were still waiting to be settled.”
  • the practical implications of moving the 2020 May bank holiday to the day after scheduled elections across the UK, “with knock-on effects to staffing and running election counts”.

The AEA report makes 13 recommendations covering:

  • necessary changes to the newly introduced process for election candidates to withhold their home address from open publication.
  • mitigation of risks to 7 May 2020 elections caused by moving the early May bank holiday.
  • simplifying the registration process for EU nationals should the UK take part in the 2024 European Parliamentary elections.
  • the need to consider the way in which overseas voters can cast their votes.
  • progressing the Law Commission’s recommendations, and those from our response to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, to draft a new overarching piece of legislation from scratch with 21stcentury electoral processes in mind.
  • urging the Cabinet Office to carry out a risk assessment of its capabilities to support unscheduled electoral events, including contingency and succession planning.
  • processing and signing-off election claims within six months of submission.
  • reviewing fees and charges to provide enough funding for polls.
  • making budgets, advances and guidance available prior to the publication of any Notice of Election/Referendum for national polls.
  • introducing a way for all costs related to national electoral events to be reimbursed to local authorities.
  • facilitating understanding of the capacity of electoral administrators and the wider electoral community.
  • the need for a more joined-up approach and collective ownership for elections across the UK Government.

Peter Stanyon, AEA chief executive, said: “These are unprecedented times in electoral administration, with yet another unscheduled nationwide poll being prepared for by stretched and often under-resourced teams. Electoral administrators always deliver but cracks are beginning to show. The need for urgent and positive action to support electoral delivery is more pressing than ever."