Agenda item

This report updates the Board on the implementation of Elections Act 2022, including the imminent review of voting and candidacy entitlements for European Union citizens resident in the borough, and the results of changes to absent voting and voter ID rules at the recent elections.

Zoe Wilkins (Electoral Services Manager) presented the report which updated the Board on the implementation of Elections Act 2022, including a review of voting and candidacy entitlements for European Union citizens resident in the borough, and the results of changes to absent voting and voter ID rules at the recent elections.

The Chair noted that some people said they didn’t vote in the recent general election because they didn’t have ID and weren’t aware of Voter Authority Certificates (VACs). She noted there had been a communications campaign to increase awareness but asked what more the Council could do in future to improve. Zoe Wilkins said the Electoral Commission had just released their report on Voter ID and it noted that the take up of VACs was low. She suggested the message could be reinforced at subsequent elections through communications campaigns and putting information with poll cards. She also noted the new Government may want to look at the ID that could be used.

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler congratulated the Elections team for running two elections this year. She said the report showed how much work the team did and how well it worked. She was particularly impressed that there had been a drop in the number of people turning up without valid ID between the two elections despite them only being six weeks apart.

Councillor Brocklebank-Fowler asked for clarification about why the funding from central government for elections was not ring fenced. Zoe Wilkins said the grant from central government had come to her service and would be used for elections work, but technically it could be used for other purposes.

Councillor Rory Vaughan asked how the Council was doing reaching EU voters regarding the changes highlighted in the report. Zoe Wilkins said the law stated there were two paths for EU nationals. The first group were those who were eligible to vote or had registered to vote before December 2020 and they would receive a letter explaining the changes and that they didn’t need to take any further action to keep their right to vote. The second group would be informed that they needed to respond to the Council to confirm their right to vote via their right to remain in the UK. To assist with this the Council was doing additional communications and working with local groups like the Polish Social and Cultural Association, following guidance from the Electoral Commission. Councillor Vaughan said he was interested in how successful the campaign would be.

Councillor Vaughan asked how the data on how many people were initially turned away but then returned to vote was recorded – and what advice those voters were given on the day. Zoe Wilkins explained that all polling stations had a form from the Electoral Commission to record anyone who either had no ID or the wrong kind of ID, and whether they returned later. Polling station teams were given a list of acceptable ID that they could give to voters and they all had a visual display in the station showing valid forms of ID. All poll clerks and presiding officers were trained on that process.

Councillor Vaughan noted that people could apply for a postal vote online and asked how signatures were recorded. Zoe Wilkins explained that there was a national portal to apply for postal votes and users were prompted to take a photo of their signature with their phone and then upload the image. For people who found that difficult they could apply without a signature and the Elections team would follow up with them and ask them to send in a signature by post.

Councillor Nikos Souslous noted that the postal voting application now required a national insurance number and asked if officers had data on how many were refused for not having one. Zoe Wilkins clarified that only the application required a national insurance number, not the postal vote itself. If the application failed for that reasons the Elections team would write and ask for proof of ID (i.e. passport) and if that failed, they would not receive a postal vote. She said she could provide data on how many people were refused a postal vote following the meeting.

ACTION: Zoe Wilkins

Councillor Souslous asked how EU residents would register to vote in future as they became eligible. Zoe Wilkins said they would register to vote in the usual way – the application process would ask for their nationality and the relevant right to vote information.

Councillor Souslous asked about the customer experience for electoral services. Zoe Wilkins said the service used the corporate contact centre for telephone calls, a dedicated email inbox, and several national online portals that fed into the service from central government.

Councillor Souslous noted that the service had previously spoken about the possibility of new voters being automatically registered and asked if any progress had been made in that area. Zoe Wilkins said she was aware of discussions within government but did not expect any significant changes within the next few years.

Councillor Souslous asked what other work was upcoming for Electoral Services. Zoe Wilkins said the Polling Districts and Places Review would be going to Full Council in January, the team had started the annual canvas, and they were planning for the next borough elections.

Councillor Natalia Perez asked what the most effective methods had been to raise awareness of the Voter ID changes ahead of the general election. Zoe Wilkins felt the information booklet that was sent out with poll card was the most effective as it reached all voters, but she wanted to speak to residents directly and ask them for feedback to improve for next time.

Councillor Jacolyn Daly asked if the rule changes had driven changes in voter behaviour – i.e. did the numbers of proxy and postal voters increase vs in-person voting. Zoe Wilkins said it was difficult to answer based on the data collected and needed more research. She offered to provide the relevant statistics to members.

ACTION: Zoe Wilkins

The Chair thanked officers for the report and noted the Elections team had taken many of the Board’s concerns and suggestions into consideration. She thanked everyone involved for delivering successful elections.

RESOLVED

1. That the Policy and Oversight Board noted and commented on the report.