Welsh Government to pilot automatic voter registration

The Welsh Government is to run a pilot programme ahead of implementing automatic voter registration across Wales.

Plans to register Welsh voters automatically were first consulted upon in October 2022 and will now be part of a Bill scheduled to be introduced in the next few weeks, according to the Welsh Government.

The Bill, which is aimed at modernising Welsh local government and Senedd elections, will make provision for both automatic registration and a wider power around piloting electoral activity.

Under the proposals, eligible people would be automatically added to the electoral register by their local authority.

A Welsh Government contact said it plans to conduct a piloting programme before fully implementing the proposals.

Commenting on the plans back in October last year, the Counsel General, Mick Antoniw, said the reform would improve the accessibility of Welsh elections.

"We want it to be as easy as possible to vote, with people able to play their full part in our democracy. We also want to create political structures that are more representative of the people they serve."

A number of electoral reforms have already been implemented under Antoniw, including lowering the voting age to 16 and enfranchising qualifying foreign nationals.

Adam Carey