Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the consequences of the replacement of the supplementary vote system by first-past-the-post in the most recent mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections; and what is their estimate of the cost differential between those two systems.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government published details of its legislative programme alongside the King's Speech. We are committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections, and our first step will be to ensure every legitimate voter is able to exercise their right to vote. We will consider the Electoral Commission report on the 2024 General Election when it is published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to revert to a preferential voting system for mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government published details of its legislative programme alongside the King's Speech. We are committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections, and our first step will be to ensure every legitimate voter is able to exercise their right to vote. We will consider the Electoral Commission report on the 2024 General Election when it is published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reverse recent changes to the oversight of the Electoral Commission so as to guarantee its independence.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
An independent regulator for elections is a cornerstone of a healthy functioning democracy. The Electoral Commission plays an important part in the UK’s democratic system, promoting public confidence in the democratic process and ensuring its integrity.
The Government is committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections and will continue to review what interventions are necessary as part of this commitment.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to revise the franchise for elections, including local and mayoral or police and crime elections, based on permanent residency.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has no plans to revise the franchise for any elections based on permanent residency.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential cost savings over the next decade from (1) scrapping compulsory photo ID at polling stations, and (2) including forms of ID acceptable for the purposes of collecting a parcel at a Post Office and official polling cards in the list of forms of ID that may be used to confirm eligibility to vote.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As our manifesto made clear, the government will address the inconsistencies in voter identification that prevent legitimate electors from voting, specifically including veterans of HM Armed Forces. We are considering what changes we wish to make in order to achieve this and will bring forward proposals in due course.
The Electoral Commission is the independent electoral regulator and will be reporting on the administration of the May local elections and the recent General Election. We anticipate publication of their initial findings on voter ID in September, with their full election report expected later in the year. We are keen to see their findings and recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to ensure that more young people receiving the official notification of their National Insurance Number are included on the electoral register, either by automatic inclusion on the register at the same time, or by changing the form of wording on the notification to encourage greater enrolment.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government believes that more can and should be done to improve voter registration and is currently exploring the best ways of achieving this. We were clear in our manifesto that we will encourage participation in our democracy and improve voter registration.
The Electoral Commission and the Office for National Statistics review and publish statistics on electoral registration and participation in elections. The Government will examine and reflect on this data when it is available following the 2024 general election.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of (1) 18–25 year-olds and (2) those over the age of 65, who were both eligible and registered to vote on the date of this year’s general election.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government believes that more can and should be done to improve voter registration and is currently exploring the best ways of achieving this. We were clear in our manifesto that we will encourage participation in our democracy and improve voter registration.
The Electoral Commission and the Office for National Statistics review and publish statistics on electoral registration and participation in elections. The Government will examine and reflect on this data when it is available following the 2024 general election.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of postal ballots for this year’s general election that had not been delivered to voters by July 3rd, and how many returned postal ballots were received on or after 5 July.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government recognises problems facing overseas voters at elections. The Electoral Commission will publish a report on the administration of the General Election held on 4 July later this year, which will cover postal voting at the poll, and the Government will give careful consideration to any findings or recommendations made in the report in relation to the current arrangements for postal voting.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number and proportion of UK overseas electors with postal votes who were able to return their ballots by polling day in this year’s general election.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government recognises problems facing overseas voters at elections. The Electoral Commission will publish a report on the administration of the General Election held on 4 July later this year, which will cover postal voting at the poll, and the Government will give careful consideration to any findings or recommendations made in the report in relation to the current arrangements for postal voting.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to simplify voter identification requirements after the local elections on 2 May.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer my Noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 24793 on 13 May 2024.