Thank you for contacting me about the Elections Bill.
Our democracy is admired around the world for its values that have been upheld for generations. I recognise the importance of ensuring that those values are robustly defended.
That is why the Elections Bill will put British citizens’ participation at the heart of democracy and support voters in making free and informed choices at elections.
A secure electoral system is a vital component of a healthy democracy, and the public must have confidence that our elections are secure and fit for the 21st century. Asking voters to bring ID to their polling station is an important way of achieving this and the Elections Bill will put such a requirement into law.
Voter ID is not new. Northern Ireland has required paper ID at polling stations since 1985, and photo ID since 2003 – introduced by the last Labour Government. It has proved to be effective at tackling fraud and has not curtailed election turnout.
Identification to vote has been backed by the Electoral Commission and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which state that its absence is a security risk. At present, it is harder to take out a library book or collect a parcel at a post office than it is to vote in someone else’s name.
In pilot schemes in 2018 and 2019, the overwhelming majority of people cast their vote without a problem and the success of the pilots proves that this is a reasonable and proportionate measure to take, and there was no notable adverse effect on turnout.
The Electoral Commission also stated that "the experience of taking part in the pilot scheme appears to have had a positive impact on people’s perception of the security of the polling station process, and on their confidence in it...Polling station staff were satisfied with how polling day went and were confident that they could manage the process of people showing voter identification at future elections."
Under the Government’s proposals, anyone without an ID will be able to apply for a new free one – meaning that no voter will be disenfranchised.
I understand concerns about civil society organisations being prevented from adding their voice to the debate but let me assure you that this would not be the case. I recognise the important role CSOs play in providing valuable information on a variety of policies. The Bill instead aims to make elections fairer and more transparent by requiring greater transparency from campaigners.
Clauses 24 of the Bill, for instance, would require third party campaigns to give notice to the Electoral Commission at a lower level of expenditure that is currently required. Clause 25 would require campaign spending, which is part of a joint plan between a registered party and a third party or parties, to be counted as part of the spending limits of all parties involved.
I believe that joint campaigning has an important role to play in our electoral system but it should be transparently and fairly regulation particularly when it could be regarded as intending to achieve a common purpose.
In order to ensure that legitimate categories of third party that may emerge in the future are not unduly restricted in their ability to campaign, Clause 23 proposes that the Government be able to amend the list of legal entities eligible to register as campaigners under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Any such change would be subject to Parliament scrutiny in the usual way and I can assure you that there would be no unilateral change by the Government.
In any election, there needs to be spending limits on candidates, on political parties and on third-party campaigners to ensure a level playing field. That is why additional provisions will be introduced on campaign expenditure which would require third party campaigns to give notice to the Electoral Commission at a lower level of expenditure than is currently required.
Third parties would also be required to have a legitimate UK interest to campaign in UK elections. Campaign spending, which is part of a joint plan between a registered party and a third party or parties, would be counted as part of the spending limits of all parties involved. While I appreciate your concerns, I believe campaign expenditure and joint campaigning should be transparently and fairly regulated.