Councillors seek an end to voter disenfranchisement

The current system for postal voting is not fit for purpose and leaves many who’re registered unable to vote, according to councillors.

Recent elections highlighted how strain on the system contributed to people not receiving their postal votes before pre-planned trips away. Election officials say this is due to companies producing voting materials and the postal system both being unable to cope with the demands nationally within such a short timeframe.

Councillor Anna Baxter, a councillor in Hull Road ward which saw a councillor by-election on the same day as the General Election, will propose a council motion that aims to change the current system. She said:

“Since 1997 the country has gone from 1m postal voters to an expected 10m registered this year.  The system must be able to withstand the pressure of a short-notice General Election.

 “But legislative requirements as they are create a bottleneck the system cannot cope with.  The system and timetable for registering for, receiving and returning postal votes needs to be reviewed in order to stop voters being disenfranchised.  When we consider how close several constituencies were in the General Election, it’s not unreasonable to conclude problems with postal votes may have influenced results.  That’s bad for democracy and requires urgent action”.

Alongside this call for a review of postal and emergency proxy vote arrangements, which is backed by the Association of Electoral Officers nationally, Labour’s motion also calls for a review of the more recent requirement for Voter ID in UK elections.

Evidence from the Electoral Commission suggests the Voter ID requirement is the reason for additional voter disenfranchisement.

“We need a proper review of Voter ID, including the forms of ID accepted”, said Cllr Baxter. “If it’s proving to be more damaging to democracy by disenfranchising voters than not having it, it should be scrapped altogether”.

Labour’s motion will be debated this Wednesday when Full Council meetings return to the Guildhall.

-ENDS-

Cllr Anna Baxter

Tel: 07740 318659

 Notes to Editors

 Labour’s full motion:

 Ending disenfranchisement in elections

 Council notes:

The significant increase in voters registering to vote by post since 1997, when fewer than 1 million were registered, to the 2024 Parliamentary Election where an estimated 10 million (approx. 1 in 5) were registered to vote by post;

The importance of ensuring the postal voting system is robust as it accounts for a growing proportion of votes cast with every election;

National law prevents Returning Officers from issuing emergency proxy votes to electors whose postal votes have not arrived on time, leaving the potential for them being unable to vote;

·        Issues in the 2024 Parliamentary Election with the timely delivery of postal vote applications and ballot papers through the postal system, and the impact this has had on electors with many left unable to vote;

·        The recommended solution for the late arrival of postal vote ballot papers being to take them to a polling station instead of posting them fails to acknowledge mobility as one of the main challenges to voting in person and why people register for postal votes in the first place;

·        Some electors also being left unable to vote following the requirement to present Voter ID, evidenced by Electoral Commission data returns from polling stations nationally in 2023;

·        The requirement for Voter ID disproportionately affecting those from low-income households and other marginalised groups.

Council believes:

·         The Government should listen to the legitimate concerns of professional members of the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) who state the legal timetable around postal votes means the current system gets overloaded and cannot cope.

·         Disenfranchising voters in a democracy is inexcusable and must be urgently reviewed to ensure it doesn’t happen again in future.

• Council puts on record its thanks to council and other staff working so hard over local, regional and national elections to support the democratic process.

Council resolves to:

·        Ask Group Leaders to write to the Secretary of State with responsibility for Local Government and to the Minister with responsibility for elections to support the calls of the AEA in requesting a review of current postal and emergency proxy vote rules, including revising the timetable for postal vote registrations, to ensure everyone who registers can vote;

·        Request the Government conducts a review of the requirement to present ID to vote that considers:

a) the types of ID accepted; and

b) if it is shown to disenfranchise registered voters that the requirement to present ID to vote is scrapped altogether.

Cllr Claire Douglas, Labour Group Leader:  07841 514518

Nick Wharton, Political Assistant to the Labour Group: 07593 528214