Making Elections More Accessible in the UK
Amendment 125 in my name and that of my noble friend Lady Thornhill would insert a new Clause to confer on the Secretary of State statutory powers to establish pilot schemes for flexible voting options. We worry that low turnout in general elections, which was less than 60% in 2024, is caused, in part, because it is easy for people who are retired or not working to vote on a particular Thursday, but harder for other people to vote then. That is why we want to extend the ways in which people can cast their vote and, we hope, increase participation.
People who are busy working, or are working shifts, long hours or with long commutes, or those who have caring responsibilities or who are looking after children, do not find it so convenient to vote, and we believe they may be discriminated against. Our amendment would establish a few possibilities, on which we would like to see more controlled, evidence-based innovation. We are aware that the Electoral Commission is carrying out a number of pilots. In particular, we would like to see an extension of advanced voting in the days preceding the main polling day. We would like to see additional polling days, in particular weekend voting, which I do not think is being piloted anywhere. On weekends, people with families and those who still have Monday to Friday jobs may have much greater flexibility.
Community voting hubs situated in accessible, busy locations could help, as could different polling stations, allowing voters choice over where they can vote within their electoral district. Transportable or mobile polling stations could bring the ballot box directly to underserved rural communities or into care environments. Flexible voting is a modernising necessity, but it would require some other changes to the way in which we conduct elections, in particular by-elections and general elections, which can be called at short notice.
The Electoral Commission is seeing some pilots at the moment. We believe that they should go further in scope and at a faster speed. We would like to see these schemes evaluated, but we also need the commission to consider whether to extend the election timetable.
There is a problem with postal voting; perhaps 26% of the votes in the last General Election were cast by post. If early voting is used—say, 10 days before the normal polling day—many votes would be cast at a halfway point in the election campaign. If we move to alternative methods of voting, we will need to consider again the election timetable, to ensure that electoral registration officers can conduct the process fairly, safely and securely, and that voters have sufficient time after the calling of a By-election or general election to consider the issues before they have to cast their votes.