UK Electoral Reforms - an agenda for the next Parliament

By Toby S. James, 9th July 2024

The UK government introduced the Elections Act 2022 to improve the quality of UK parliamentary elections. This included measures such as compulsory voter identification, reduced independence for the Electoral Commission, and extending the eligibility to vote from overseas.

The 2024 UK General Election saw the lowest voter turnout in decades - and amongst the lowest in 100 years of parliamentary elections. There were also problems with postal votes.

What should the next government focus on?

This page draws together resources from the Electoral Integrity Project to make recommendations for how UK parliamentary elections could be improved for the future.

What is electoral integrity?

Democracy is a system in which there are preconditions in place to empower citizens to fulfil their human needs, aspirations and goals. This includes having control over their own environment. Democracy, therefore involves more than just elections, but elections are an important practice to enable this.  Electoral integrity refers to those elections which enable democracy to be delivered. Elections have integrity if they empower people via four key mechanisms - but can disempower people if these principles are not met. 

Firstly, elections should enable contestation, which empowers people by allowing them to stand for office - and parties/candidates should be able to compete on a level playing field. Secondly, elections should facilitate participation, which empowers people by enabling them to use their vote.  Thirdly, elections should enable deliberation, which can dissolve differences in society and lead to reasoned decisions.  Fourthly, there should be strong adjudicatory processes within elections to empower citizens to have access to electoral justice.

EVALUATIONS OF UK ELECTIONS

The Electoral Integrity Project evaluates the quality of all national elections worldwide. The average UK election quality score at the general elections 2015-2019 was 64 out of 100 (data from 2024 is not available yet). There are some areas of strength such as the quality of the electoral authorities, procedures and counting process.  But there are underlying weaknesses with finance, the media, fairness to smaller parties and the design of the boundaries (see figure below)

There has been a growing tendency for citizens to not participate in UK elections. The way in which turnout is reported by UK media (by not counting citizens not registered) has underestimated this problem. The figure below includes non-registered eligible electors in the calculations. As these show, there is therefore an urgent need for actions to increase participation.

THE ELECTORAL REFORM PROCESS

Historically, there would be a cross-party committee set up by the government to review electoral practices after each general election. The Howarth Committee was established after New Labour’s 1997 victory, for example. This made various recommendations which provided a blueprint for electoral reforms. This open, transparent and cross-party approach is encouraged.

The approach to undertaking electoral reforms that is encouraged by the international community includes taking:

• An evidence-based approach

• Seeking consensus across parties

• Involving civil society and all stakeholders

• Thinking about problems across the electoral cycle

Setting up a cross-party committee to review electoral practices is therefore strongly encouraged.

Electoral reforms for the next parliament

Which electoral reforms could be considered? The Labour manifesto contained no commitment to change the electoral system - so this is outside of the scope of this Parliament.

There are many reforms which could be introduced for the next Parliament to strengthen electoral integrity:

1. Representation of the People Act. A new Representation of the People Act could consolidate electoral law into one Act of Parliament. This would make elections easier to deliver for electoral officials and the law more accessible.

2. Voter identification rules. These could be amended to allow a greater range of identification and a system of vouching could also be enacted. Alternatively, they could be abolished entirely. Evidence shows that voter identification leads to many people not casting a ballot.

3. Electoral organisation consolidation. We have multiple overlapping organisations running elections across the UK – which has become more complicated because of devolution.  There is a case for organisational consolidation to save money and have clearer lines of accountability.

4. Electoral Commission independence. The clause of the Elections Act 2022 which subjects the Electoral Commission to direction from the government of the day could be repealed. Independence is important for ensuring better elections.

5. Electoral registration. Automatic and assisted voter registration could be enacted to ensure more accurate and complete electoral registers.

6. Open register. The open/edited electoral register should be abolished because it provides an opportunity for foreign interference in elections.

7. Overseas voting. New methods to enable overseas voters to cast their ballot should be considered. Many overseas electors do not receive their postal ballots in time to return them.

8. Extending the electoral timetable. Electoral officials should be granted a longer period to prepare for the day of the election. This would reduce the pressures that they are under.

9. Electoral complaints process. There is currently no simple system to allow citizens to make a complaint if they have a problem with the electoral process e.g. they do not receive a postal voting pack when they have applied in time. A simple complaints process would allow problems to be identified and remedied.

10. Election funding. Electoral officials have faced increased pressure to receive the funding that they need to deliver elections. There should be a review of the funding process to ensure that they have adequate resources.

11. Constituency boundaries. Boundaries are currently based around the electoral register - which means that those who are unregistered are not included when the electoral map is drawn out. This systematically disadvantages urban areas and young people. The electoral boundaries should therefore be redrawn around the census instead.

12. Political donations. The rules regarding political donations should be reviewed to ensure transparency, fairness and the risk of overseas meddling in UK elections.

13. Voter education in schools. Schools are the most important place to educate young people about the voting process. It is important that this is provided and resources and training are provided to teachers to ensure that pupils receive politically neutral civic education.

14. Franchise. Votes at 16 was part of the government’s manifesto - but Scotland has also introduced residence-based voting on the grounds of creating an inclusive Scotland and ensuring that those who pay tax have representation. The franchise for parliamentary elections, meanwhile, gives full voting rights to some citizens from Commonwealth countries immediately on arrival into the UK. There is an unresolved question around prisoner voting. A cross-party review of the franchise would be encouraged and the residence-based voting considered.

Beyond electoral law

Laws do not have to be changed to improve elections. It is also recommended that:

1. Support for overseas democracy/elections assistance.  There are concerns about global democratic backsliding. It is important that the UK is a voice for democracy on the global stage and supports international efforts to improve elections overseas in collaboration with partners.

2. Tackling misinformation and disinformation. This is one of the pressure problems of our age. Methods include support for independent fact-checking journalism, the use of AI-detection tools. collaboration with social media companies and others.

3. Systematic review of electoral integrity. Elections are matters of national security and overseas actors are increasingly looking to influence them. There should be a major national security review to identify weaknesses in election security, broadly conceived.

further information

For submissions of Parliamentary evidence - and invited oral evidence, also see:

• Parliamentary and consultation evidence – Toby S. James (tobysjames.com)

Relevant reports: