Dear Rushanara Ali / Angela Rayner / Keir Starmer,
Too many voices are left out of democracy in the UK today. That’s why we welcome the Government’s commitment to enfranchise 16 and 17 year olds.
But votes at 16 will only be a success if 16 and 17 year olds are actually registered to vote. That’s why we are urging the Government to include voter registration reform in the forthcoming Elections Bill.
The Electoral Commission has highlighted the failings of our Victorian-era voter registration system that leaves more than 6 million eligible UK citizens not registered to vote. Worst affected are young people, private renters, and ethnic minority voters. The system isn’t working for many people with disabilities either.
Many of us represent the communities most affected by the current registration system — the 1 in 5 of the population who are failed by it. Election after election, the people we work with are unable to have their say and participate in our democracy. Improving this would be transformational for our democracy and bring voter registration into the 21st Century.
The Electoral Commission has said that there is little evidence that the accuracy and completeness of the register is likely to significantly improve without major changes to the system. Directly registering voters through existing Government data is the most effective solution to this problem.
These systems are not new. They are tried and tested and in use in dozens of democracies around the world, including Canada, Australia, Japan, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and in many US states.
A study of 159 countries found that systems of automatic enrolment improve both the accuracy and completeness of electoral registration. They are more secure and save money. Their impact is strongest on ethnic minority voters, young, and low-income electors.
It’s a small change that can make a big difference.
New academic research from the University of Manchester shows that the UK is an outlier amongst liberal democracies when it comes to voter registration. We make it harder than almost every other democracy to register to vote — why?
We believe that every eligible citizen should be registered to vote.
Young people, including those 16 and 17 year olds who are to be given the right to vote, deserve a voice in our democracy. So do private renters and ethnic minority voters.
Modernising the registration system aligns well with the Government’s ambitions to better use digital technology to make people’s lives easier. Expert academics have set out how this could work in the UK to reach huge numbers of voters.
Your Government can deliver this in the Elections Bill and we urge you to support this change.
We would be delighted to meet with you to discuss this further and present evidence on how the change can be delivered.
Regards,
Tom Brake – Director, Unlock Democracy
Jess Garland – Director of Research and Policy, Electoral Reform Society
Professor Toby James – co-Director, Electoral Integrity Project
Matthew McGregor – CEO, 38 Degrees
Shabna Begum – CEO, Runnymede Trust
Ben Twomey – Chief Executive, Generation Rent
Yvonne MacNamara – Chief Executive, Traveller Movement
Sarah Castell – Chief Executive, Involve
Saba Shafi – CEO, The Advocacy Academy
Lisa Pearce – Interim CEO, Gingerbread
Naomi Smith – CEO, Best for Britain
Timi Okuwa – CEO, Black Equity Organisation
Jennifer Nadel – CEO, Compassion in Politics
Ben Rich – Chief Executive, Radix Big Tent
David Weaver – Chair, Operation Black Vote
Emma Harrison – CEO, Make Votes Matter
Neal Lawson – Executive Director, Compass
Nick Lowles – Chief Executive, HOPE not Hate
Areeba Hamid and Will McCallum – Co-Executive Directors, Greenpeace UK
Carina Crawford Khan – Assistant Director, Citizens UK
Dan Lawes – co-CEO, My Life My Say
Amira Campbell – UK President, National Union of Students
Michael Wordingham – Head of Policy, RNIB
Dan Paskins – Executive Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, Save the Children UK
This letter was originally posted by Unlock Democracy.
