Voters ‘should register individually’
Voters should be required to provide individual identification details when registering to vote, the Electoral Commission said today.
As part of measures to tackle voting fraud, the UK’s electoral watchdog is recommending that all voters provide a signature and date of birth in addition to their name and address when they fill in an electoral registration form.
The Government shares this view, saying that while there should still be just one form per household, all individuals should be required to sign it. A system of individual voter-registration already operates in Northern Ireland.
In all, the commission set out 45 recommendations in a new report, including creating a range of new offences and stepping up the level of checks.
New offences would include making a fraudulent application for a postal or a proxy vote – again something the Government backs – and failing to supply the required information to an electoral registration officer.
The commission would also like to see the power of arrest for personation – where somebody pretends to be someone else – outside a polling station, and clarification of the law on the offence of undue influence.
“Today we have set out the detail of changes we believe are fundamental to ensure a secure and reliable choice of voting methods,” said Sam Younger, chairman of the Electoral Commission.
“The current system needs to be bolstered so that it can support both the increased demand for postal voting and future innovations in electronic voting.”
Other recommendations comprise carrying out more checks on postal and proxy votes, such as including personal details collected at registration in postal vote applications, and allowing more time for checks to be made.
It also recommends moving the deadline for registering to vote for a particular election to after the election has been called, and maintaining electoral registers electronically.
On Tuesday, the Government published the Electoral Administration Bill, which includes many of the measures recommended by the Electoral Commission today.
A spokesman for the Department of Constitutional Affairs said: “We’d like the thank the Electoral Commission for their hard work. We will be studying their recommendations carefully over the coming weeks. It’s clear that there is a large measure of agreement between us.
“For example, we have already pledged to bring in a new offence of falsely applying for a postal vote, have agreed to increase the time administrators have to check ballots and have agreed to introduce individual identifiers like a signature and date of birth.”
A bill would be introduced “as soon as parliamentary time allows”, he added.
Meanwhile, Conservative Shadow Constitutional Affairs Secretary Oliver Heald urged the Government to rule out all-postal voting.
He said: “Last December, the Government asserted it would continue with all-postal voting. But after the collapse in public confidence in postal voting, Labour must now return to the ballot box as the foundation for our democracy.
“If John Prescott and Lord Falconer do not rule out all-postal voting, Conservatives will table amendments to the Electoral Administration Bill to scrap it outright.”
