Select committee expresses concern at impact on electoral registration officers if rest of Elections Act 2022 implemented

The record of the voter identification scheme used for the first time at last May’s local elections has given watchdog MPs “deep concern” about the Government’s implementation of the rest of the Elections Act 2022 and the impact that would have on the recruitment of electoral registration officers.

That message has come from Labour MP Clive Betts, chair of the cross-party  Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee in a letter in which he poses a series of questions to faith and communities minister Baroness Scott of Bybrook.

Betts pointed to the Electoral Commission’s assessment of the new requirement for voters to bring photo-identification to polling stations, which showed 14,000 people were recorded as being unable to vote as they lacked acceptable identification evidence, although the commission believed the actual number to be far greater.

He said the commission had confirmed in a letter to the committee that it believed 4% of people entitled to vote last May did not try to because of the new requirement, equivalent to 740,000 people.

Witnesses who appeared before the committee had expressed concerns that the impact of the photo-identification rule could be even higher at a general election, which tend to have higher turnouts than local ones.

“How does the Government intend to ensure that the proportion of those unable to vote due to voter ID is not considerably higher at a future general election,” Mr Betts asked.

He noted the commission had made numerous recommendations to deal with the issue in future elections, which then minister Rachel Maclean called “sensible and practical” in her response.

“Which of the Electoral Commission’s recommendations do the Government plan to take forward?” Mr Betts said.

The commission had found unemployed and disabled voters were more likely than others to be unable to vote due to the requirement, and he also wanted to know how the Government would respond to this.

Several returning officers raised concerns with the committee about the recruitment and retention of electoral staff, a long-standing problem “exacerbated with the roll out of voter ID”, with many authorities borrowing staff from neighbours not holding elections this year.

Betts said: “In a general election, local authorities will not be able to rely on those additional staff. Subsequently, we are increasingly concerned about the impact this may have on their ability to deliver a safe and secure election, when voter ID will be rolled out on a much larger-scale and many authorities (particularly those in Scotland and Wales) will be undertaking the challenge for the first time. Has the Government conducted a review of electoral teams to assess their capacity to deliver a general election effectively and securely?”

The committee was also “deeply concerned about the impact that implementing the remaining provisions of the Elections Act 2022 may have on the recruitment of electoral registration officers” as the commission had suggested these would add

“further complexity and administration to a system already under strain”.

The DLUHC has been contacted for comment.

A separate inquiry in o the vote identification scheme is being held by the House of Lords Constitution Committee which this week heard evidence from two commission officials and Peter Stanyon, chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators.

A session next week is due to hear from Graham Farrant, chief executive at Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, Cleland Sneddon, chief executive of South Lanarkshire Council and Martha Matheou, head of electoral services at London Borough of Sutton.

Mark Smulian