Missing Millions Still Missing – electoral report launch
By: News Archive
As speculation about an early general election gathers momentum, a new report from the University of East Anglia takes a closer look at electoral modernisation in the UK.
The report, by Prof Toby James, from UEA’s school of Political, Social and International Studies, reveals a “silent crisis” in UK electoral processes – with poor voter registration and funding cuts.
He says that “sticking plasters have papered over cracks in a Victorian system in need of repair, but there is a risk that the banks could break”.
Solutions provided in the report include providing a website so people can check if they are registered, registering young people in schools and universities, providing a centralised complaints system and allowing citizens to vote at any polling station.
Prof Toby James said: “There are persistent, serious problems in the way that elections are run. Eight million are not correctly registered to vote.
“This problem has been growing over several decades, but it was made worse by recent reforms that now require everyone to register individually. It is particularly problematic for recent movers and private renters, Commonwealth and EU nationals, non-white ethnicities, lower socioeconomic groups, citizens with mental disabilities and young people.
“An overwhelming reason why people are not registered is because they think they are. They assume that public bodies are co-ordinated and clever enough to share information. If I pay council tax, why am I not registered? The public assume that this information is passed seamlessly onto the people handing out ballots in polling stations.
“But such common sense doesn’t exist. Rather than having one single electoral register, there are 372. When you pay your council tax, are issued a driver’s licence or given your national insurance number, this information is not passed on to the people preparing for a future election. Instead, we are all asked to register individually – and valuable resources are spent reminding us to do so.”
The report also reveals that the electoral services are under financial strain.
“Cash crises in the NHS and schools have regularly made headlines,” said Prof James. “But there has been a silent crisis in electoral services departments too. Cutbacks have long been in place and staff workloads and levels of stress have been shown to be excessively high.”
‘Missing Millions Still Missing – a vision for electoral modernisation in the UK’ is published on Wednesday, August 14, 2019.
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