Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to facilitate the registration of postal voters.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Electors who wish to apply for a postal vote can choose to make their application on paper, or online for reserved elections in Great Britain.

Giving electors the choice to apply for an absent vote through a paper application or online gives electors more control over their voting arrangements, whether they choose to vote in person, via post, or via a proxy. The online postal and proxy vote application services also make the process easier and simpler for many electors. Over 1.5 million people in Great Britain made an application to vote by post or via a proxy in the run-up to the General Election last year. Between the election being called on the 22nd of May 2024 and the deadline for absent vote applications, 84% of postal vote applications and 93% of proxy vote applications were made using the online services.

Over 90% of electors who chose to apply for a postal or proxy vote online during this period found the services to be effective and said that they were satisfied with them.

These services make our democratic system more accessible for electors, and the Government is supporting work to expand their scope. The Government recently gave its full support to the Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill. If passed, the Bill will allow applications for postal and proxy voting arrangements for Welsh and Scottish Parliamentary elections, and local elections in Wales and Scotland, to be made online.

Found: The Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill 2024-25

Found: It is intended that it will be reviewed following the scrutiny of the Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill