Presentation from the Democratic and Electoral Services Manager
Minutes:
The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager presented this item to the Committee.
Main Points:
· The Elections Act 2022 received Royal Assent in April 2022 however the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) are still developing the policy and secondary legislation.
· The Bill impacts the administration of electoral registration and elections, and there are practical arrangements the Council must consider in readiness for implementing the changes.
· Part 1 of the Act introduces several new measures aimed at strengthening the integrity of the electoral process.
· Voter ID application portal went live on 16 January 2023 and from 4 May 2023 applies to:
o UK Parliamentary by-elections
o UK Parliamentary recall petitions
o Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales
o Local government elections and referendums in England (not in Wales)
o From 5 October 2023 also applies to UK Parliamentary general elections
· Unless there is any UK Parliamentary election activity that is earlier than currently scheduled, this will come into effect in Wales in the polling stations from May 2024.
· The ID can be those on the list provided by DLUHC, or residents can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate (VAC) through their local authority.
· At local elections in England on 4 May, voters needed to show photo identification to vote in polling stations. These were the first elections in Great Britain where this requirement was in place. Elections took place in 230 areas in England and around 27 million people were eligible to vote.
· High level of scrutiny of the impact of Voter ID, although it is still early days in terms of analysis.
· It is not easy to predict the volume of people applying for the ID; in recent pilots this has been less than 5% of the population.
· The Electoral Commission found that:
o Awareness of the need to bring ID to vote at a polling station was high.
o Awareness and take-up of the Voter Authority Certificate was low.
o At least 0.25% of people who tried to vote at a polling station in May 2023 were not able to because of the ID requirement.
o Around 4% of all non-voters said they didn’t vote because of the voter ID requirement.
o The UK Government and the wider electoral community should work to improve the collection of data at polling stations.
o Levels of voter confidence and satisfaction were similar to previous elections.
· Democracy Volunteers are impartial observers who aim to attend elections and report their observations. They had 150 accredited observers at the English local elections and observers generally formed teams and attended 879 polling stations across all the regions in England.
· They found that 1.2% of those attending polling stations were turned away because they lacked the relevant ID or were judged not to have it.
· The Electoral Commission will:
o Run the national public communications campaign to raise awareness.
o Support those without eligible identification to understand how and when they can apply for an electoral identity document.
· It is anticipated that there will be materials that Local Authorities can use through social media channels to include mail shots, etc. to support increased awareness.
· Development of a campaign in Newport that will include engagement with partner organisations and measures to address potential disenfranchisement of some groups.
· For Newport, the communication plan will commence in September.
· The Statutory Instrument (SI) to implement Elections Act 2022 changes to postal and proxy voting and introduce an online application service for these voting methods was laid before Parliament on 6 July. The SI relating to postal and proxy voting has changed from the version originally published by DLUHC on 23 May 2023.
· Reserved elections only
o UK Parliamentary General Elections (UK-wide)
o Police and Crime Commissioner elections (England and Wales)
· Online Absent Voting Applications from31 October 2023.
· Proxy renewals – reapplication required in January 2024, January 2025 and January 2026.
· Postal voters will need to make a fresh application every 3 years.
· All postal voters (who applied before 30 January 2024) are required to transition to the new system by 31 January 2026.
· The SI does not yet include full divergence impacts, or the more detailed impact on administration, funding and digital requirements testing.
· DLUHC stated they are working very closely with the Scottish and Welsh Governments, electoral administrators and representative bodies on how best to mitigate and manage the impact of these differences.
· DLUHC stated that they have designed the digital service, and associated changes to existing Electoral Management Software systems, to facilitate the divergence and continue to work on any administrative challenges identified.
· DLUHC stated that since the passage of the Elections Act, the Scottish and Welsh Governments have expressed an interest in applying the online route to devolved polls in the future. For this to happen, legislation in the UK Parliament would be required.
Questions:
The Committee stated that the awareness process needs to be start as soon as possible.
The Committee asked whether there is any data from previous elections in Newport on numbers of people that did not engage. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that is data that can be obtained and brought before the Committee.
The Committee wanted clarification on whether the applications for Voter ID are done online or by post. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager highlighted that these are done online but in-person support is available at the Civic Centre by the Electoral Registration team.
The Committee noted that if a hard copy can be made available, these can be handed out when canvassing if a resident is unsure how to do this online. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that flyers can be provided to Councillors which can be shared to candidates.
The Committee queried whether there was a migration to postal voting following Covid.
The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that approximately 20% of the total Electoral Register are registered for postal votes. That had increased significantly during Covid, and this continues to increase year on year.
The Committee queried what would happen if two elections were to take place at the same time and where Voter ID is only required for one of these elections. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager highlighted that some of the challenges with this legislation creating divergence are the processes for different elections and that is amplified by multiple polls running on the same day. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager highlighted the importance of engaging with residents as much as possible to ensure they have the correct information.
The Committee queried how long are Voter ID certificates valid for and will information about this be included in Electoral Registration paperwork.
The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that the Voter ID Certificates are valid for 12 months, but this would need to be confirmed and flyers are being included within canvassing activities.
The Committee commented that if these certificates are only valid for a year it will be expensive and time-consuming and will potentially deter people from voting.
The Committee asked whether there has been any funding provided for implementation of this. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager stated that there has been funding but the fulfilment is done elsewhere. The resident would complete the form on GOV.UK, our staff then verify the information, and it would then be sent to a fulfilment centre to be sent out. The funding covers staffing, equipment to take photographs for the time being, but may not be supported in future years with additional grant funding.
The Committee queried whether there is any discretion about acceptance of Voter ID.The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager confirmed that the appropriate levels of discretion would be managed through additional training for poll station staff.