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Voter Engagement in the UK

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Voter Engagement in the UK House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee Voter engagement in the UK Fourth Report of Session 2014–15 Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 10 November 2014 HC 232 [Incorporating HC 1059, Session 2013-14] Published on 14 November 2014 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 The Political and Constitutional Reform Committee The Political and Constitutional Reform Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to consider political and constitutional reform. Current membership Mr Graham Allen MP (Labour, Nottingham North) (Cha ir) Mr Jeremy Browne MP (Liberal Democrat, Taunton Deane) Mr Christopher Chope MP (Conservative, Christchurch) Tracey Crouch MP (Conservative, Chatham and Aylesford) Mark Durkan MP (Social Democratic & Labour Party, Foyle) Paul Flynn MP (Labour, Newport West) Fabian Hamilton MP (Labour, Leeds North East) David Morris MP (Conservative, Morecambe and Lunesdale) Robert Neill MP (Conservative, Bromley and Chislehurst) Chris Ruane MP (Labour, Vale of Clwyd) Mr Andrew Turner MP (Conservative, Isle of Wight) The following Members were also members of the Committee during the Parliament: Sheila Gilmore MP (Labour, Edinburgh East) Andrew Griffiths MP (Conservative, Burton) Simon Hart MP (Conservative, Camarthen West and South Pembrokeshire) Tristram Hunt MP (Labour, Stoke on Trent Central) Mrs Eleanor Laing MP (Conservative, Epping Forest) Stephen Williams MP (Liberal Democrat, Bristol West) Yasmin Qureshi MP (Labour, Bolton South East) Powers The Committee’s powers are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in Temporary Standing Order (Political and Constitutional Reform Committee). These are available on the Internet via www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmstords.htm Publication Committee reports are published on the Committee’s website at www.parliament.uk/PCRC-publications and by The Stationary Office by Order of the House. Evidence relating to this report is publishe d on the Committee’s website at www.parliament.uk/voter-engagement-in-the-uk Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Martyn Atkins (Clerk), Edward Faulkner (Senior Committee Specialist), Ami Cochrane (Legal Assistant), Tony Catinella (Senior Committee Assistant), Nerys Davies (Campaign Co-ordinator), Joellen Perry (Committee Assistant) and Jessica Bridges-Palmer (Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 6287; the Committee’s email address is [email protected] Voter Engagement in the UK 1 Contents Report Page 1 A chance to engage 3 2 Introduction 4 The electorate 4 Turnout 5 Our inquiry 6 3 Reasons for low voter engagement 7 Political disengagement and dissatisfaction 7 Negative views of politicians and politics 8 Failure of traditional political mechanisms 10 Political parties 10 Role of the media 12 The value of voting 15 Where power lies 17 The views of “non-voters” 18 Conclusion 19 4 Recent developments 21 Individual Electoral Registration 21 Requirement to register 21 Confirmation process 22 Online registration 23 Monitoring of implementation 24 Risks of Individual Electoral Registration 24 End of transitional arrangements 25 Additional funding to maximise registration 27 Electoral Commission work on electoral fraud 28 Electoral Commission proposals 29 5 Unequal registration and participation 31 Young people and students 31 Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups 35 People with disabilities 36 Overseas voters 39 Citizens of Commonwealth countries and other EU member states 42 Conclusion 43 6 Improving levels of electoral registration 44 Electoral Registration Officers 45 Performance 45 Freedom of Information requests 50 The Electoral Commission 52 Supporting others 54 Maximising registration 54 Plans for the future 56 2 Voter Engagement in the UK Registration campaigns 56 Changes to electoral registration 58 Prompting people to register to vote 58 Registration at schools and universities 59 Registering closer to the election and election-day registration 60 The “open register” 61 7 Proposals to improve voter turnout 63 Automatic registration 63 Modernising electoral administration 64 Weekend or extended voting 64 Voting anywhere 66 Online voting 66 Postal voting 68 Conclusion 69 Public awareness and the provision of information 70 ‘Get out the vote’ campaigns 72 Citizenship education 72 Electoral reform 74 Compulsory voting 74 Alternative electoral systems 76 Reducing the voting age to 16 77 8 Conclusion 79 Conclusions and recommendations 82 Annex 1: Terms of reference 95 Annex 2: Summary of Outreach event at the University of Sheffield, 5 June 2014 96 Formal Minutes 102 Witnesses 103 Published written evidence 106 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 110 Voter Engagement in the UK 3 1 A chance to engage 1. We believe that improving voter engagement is crucial to the long term well-being of democracy in the UK. Unusually, therefore, the following Report is an interim report— a draft—for public consideration, rather than the Committee’s final word on the issue of voter engagement. Appropriately, we publish it in the annual Parliament Week since we wish it to be subject to wider discussion involving all those who care about the UK’s democracy, including all those who submitted evidence to the Committee. All of our draft recommendations are open to possible change following public consultation. 2. As part of this process, we have been in discussion with the independent and impartial Hansard Society, which we understand may be looking at some of the issues considered in this report as part of its regular Audit of Political Engagement. We hope that the Hansard Society’s findings in this area will inform our final judgment about the reforms which can be achieved in practice. We plan to issue a final report before National Voter Registration Day on 5 February 2015, to frame debate on these issues ahead of the 2015 general election. We hope that citizens feel we are being open and inclusive about the improvements which must be made. In that spirit we hope that everyone reading this Report plays their part by engaging and responding to it. We also propose to write to the political parties and their leaders requesting a preliminary response to our interim proposals. It is appropriate that as 2015 dawns the UK’s history on the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta is celebrated by stepping up to meet the enormous challenges that face to the UK in renewing its democracy for the future. 4 Voter Engagement in the UK 2 Introduction 3. Levels of turnout at UK elections and the percentage of people that are correctly registered to vote has declined substantially in recent decades. Although turnout for the 2010 general election was the highest since 1997, only 65% of registered voters participated, and turnout levels for local authority, European Parliament and Police and Crime Commissioner elections are even worse. At every local council and European Parliament election in the last decade that has not coincided with a general election the turnout has been less than 50%. There are also millions of people missing from the electoral registers— it is estimated that 7.5 million people entitled to vote at an election are not correctly registered to vote, and that there are millions of British citizens living overseas that are not registered to vote at all.1 These figures indicate a substantial lack of engagement of the public with elections in the UK. The electorate 4. Eligibility to register to vote and participate in UK elections varies depending on the type of election being held. For general (parliamentary) elections, eligible voters are British or Commonwealth citizens, as well as citizens of the Republic of Ireland, aged 18 and over, who are resident in the UK, as well as British citizens living abroad who were resident in the UK within the last 15 years.2 For local and European Parliament elections,3 citizens of other European Union member states aged 18 and over living in the UK are also entitled to vote, but British citizens living abroad are not.4 5. In 2013 the number of people registered to vote—the electorate—for general elections was 46,139,900.5 This figure is 0.5% lower than in 2012. The Electoral Commission has estimated that the most recent electoral register is only 84.7% complete. This equates to 7.5 million people that are eligible to vote in UK elections not being correctly registered to vote, though the Electoral Commission has stated that this figure does not mean there should be an additional 7.5 million people registered to vote, since many of these people may still have been included on the register but in an inaccurate entry.6 The number of people not correctly registered to vote has risen substantially since 2000, when it is estimated there were 3.9 million people not correctly registered to vote. The Electoral 1 Figures for electoral registration referred to throughout this report relate to Great Britain only. The electoral registration system for Northern Ireland operates separately to that for Great Britain. 2 Certain people are excluded from voting. These are: Members of the House of the Lords, convicted persons detained in pursuance of their sentences, and anyone found guilty within the previous five years of corrupt or illegal practices in connection with an election. 3 Local elections include those for local councillors, mayors, and members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament. 4 The Government’s website, Voting in the UK, details who is eligible to vote for the various UK elections, and the Electoral Commission’s website, About my vote, gives details of how to register to vote. 5 Electoral statistics for UK – 2013, Office for National Statistics.
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