Association of Electoral Administrators call for “urgent review” of electoral landscape
The Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) has warned that pressure on council teams running elections will only be recognised in the event of a “major electoral failure”, in its latest post polls report.
Making 10 key recommendations for change, the association called for an “urgent review” of the electoral landscape.
The report, published on 27 June, began by acknowledging that it was “inevitable” the May 2023 polls would be challenging. It continued: “The [Elections] Act introduced significant changes to the voting process for both voters and electoral administrators. The challenges in delivering these changes were markedly intensified due to late legislation and guidance.”
In December 2022, Parliament passed the Government's plans to introduce voter ID for the May 2023 elections, following the passing of the Elections Act 2022 in April 2022.
Looking at the issue of Voter ID and acceptable forms of identification, the report found examples of a “London-centric” view of travelcards. The AEA noted that the Merseytravel Over 60s pass has “similar application checks as an Oyster 60+ card, but was omitted from the list of valid ID”.
It also found that while documents without photos were easily refused, it was “more complicated” to turn down other types, such as a passport from Zimbabwe or a British format immigration document.
The AEA concluded that a review of accepted identification is needed “as a matter of urgency” to confirm if the current list should be expanded or reduced.
The review also found that several areas reported that “significant” numbers of electors did not receive their postal vote.
This resulted in large numbers needing to be reissued, including one case where a Returning Officer (RO) had to reissue 2,300 undelivered postal votes, the report noted.
On this issue, the AEA said: "It is imperative all stakeholders work on a solution that allows better tracking of postal votes with more transparency from suppliers."
In May 2023, the leader of Sefton Council, Ian Maher, reported that voters directed abuse at polling station staff in local elections over voter ID requirements.
While acknowledging “a limited number of reported issues and threats” made to polling station staff on 4 May over voter ID requirements, the AEA shared concerns that “the situation could be very different at a contentious, high turnout and high profile UK Parliamentary General Election (UKPGE)”.
Looking at what needs to change, the AEA said it is concerned that Electoral Registration Officers (ERO’s) and RO's ability to successfully deliver polls is “being compromised by continual and unsystematic changes to the democratic process”.
The report said: “We believe the impact of aggregated risk is insufficiently recognised, and inadequately mitigated.”
The report made 10 recommendations:
1. Commissioning an independent review of core electoral delivery processes.
2. Reconsidering the way elections are delivered.
3. All GB governments to consider the impact legislative divergence has on the complexity of administrating democracy and electors’ engagement with the electoral process.
4. For the UK Government to critically assess the risk of electoral suppliers, including Royal Mail, printers and software companies, failing to deliver ahead of a national poll.
5. For the Electoral Commission to consider how it advocates for and supports the capacity and resilience of electoral teams in local authorities and the engagement of ROs and EROs.
6. A single Electoral Administration Act to modernise core processes while reflecting the divergent approach of all four UK nations.
7. An extended 30-day electoral timetable, including for UK Parliamentary general elections, to reduce risk and increase capacity.
8. Earlier deadlines for absent voting applications to meet voters’ needs, including those living overseas.
9. Absent voting arrangements fit for the 21st century, including the option to apply for an absent vote using official online platforms.
10. A full review of electoral funding to reduce the burden on local authorities, including earlier fees and charges allocations for national electoral events and reimbursement of related registration costs.
Lottie Winson
