The Ballotin - Democracy Club's Newsletter

This is an HTML version of an email we sent on 31 Jan 2024.

If you would like to receive these emails in future, please subscribe.

Welcome to the December-January 2024 edition of Democracy Club’s regular newsletter. All past emails are accessible in an online archive.

2024 is going to be a big year for elections in the UK, with all areas of England and Wales holding elections on 2 May, and a general election due to occur no later than January 2025. In this newsletter:

  • What we’re working on: meeting the Association of Electoral Administrators; partnerships for the general election; improvements to Who Can I Vote For and Where Do I Vote.
  • Electoral law developments: UK-wide changes to the law for overseas voter and digital election adverts; Scottish and Welsh electoral reform bills.
  • Elections to watch: two parliamentary and one mayoral by-election make for a busy month ahead.

What we're working on

Meeting electoral administrators
The highlight of our January was the annual conference of the Association of Electoral Administrators, where Sym and Peter delivered a talk about our work to a packed hall of administrators from all corners of the UK and crown dependencies. We were really encouraged by the interest and enthusiasm on display at the conference. However, we were also struck by the challenges and stresses facing electoral service teams as they work to deliver elections within an increasingly complex and labour-intensive electoral system. This is something the AEA has spoken about publicly on a number of occasions, most recently in their June 2023 post-polls report and October statement on the new online absent vote application portal.

Partnerships
We’re reaching out to as many people and organisations as we can ahead of this year’s elections. We’re especially keen to talk to businesses who are interested in encouraging their staff or customers to take part. If you think your company or organisation may be interested in working with us, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Who Can I Vote For?
Local government is complex, and we’re conscious that voters sometimes struggle to understand the different things they are being asked to vote for. To help tackle this confusion, we’re updating the range of ‘explainers’ offered on WhoCanIVoteFor.co.uk. As well as adding our short summaries of elected positions, we’re exploring how we can better use partnerships to expand the level of information we offer. For example, we’ve been really impressed with the detailed explainers on English devolution produced by the Institute for Government, and will be linking to some of these from our site. As we get closer to the election, we’ll also be adding other sources, including official information published by government and councils.

Where Do I Vote?
We will soon be collecting polling station data from councils to power WhereDoIVote.co.uk. Alongside various improvements to the platform, this year we’re partnering with the Welsh Government to pilot improved accessibility information about polling station buildings. We’ll have more information about this in a future newsletter. 

Recent developments in electoral law

Changes to overseas voter rules
Due to changes made in the 2022 Elections Act and which came into force on 16 January British citizens living abroad are now able to register to vote in UK parliamentary elections for life. Previously the law limited overseas voters to fifteen years. The government estimates that these changes could extend eligibility to 3.5 million people, although in practice the number who register will probably be much lower than that. Learn more about overseas voters and these changes from the House of Commons Library.

Digital imprints
Another element of the 2022 Elections Act is the enforcement of imprints on digital campaigning material. The law, which came into force on 1 November 2023, requires most digital campaign material to include an imprint, showing who paid for and produced it. You can learn more about these changes from The Electoral Commission.

Scottish electoral reform bill published
Over to the Scottish parliament now, where the government has published the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill. This makes a number of changes to Scottish elections, including expanding the franchise among foreign nationals and introducing the possibility of digital poll cards. Learn more about the Bill on the Scottish Government website.

The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
Sym previously blogged about the Welsh electoral reform bill and its proposal for an online voter information platform for Welsh elections. As the bill makes its way through the Senedd, we’ve published another blog with thoughts on how the thorny issue of candidate statements might be implemented in practice.

Elections to watch

Following the recall of the MP for Wellingborough (North Northamptonshire) and the resignation of the MP for Kingswood (South Gloucestershire), by-elections will take place in both constituencies on 15 February. 

There will also be a Mayoral by-election in Lewisham, after the incumbent mayor resigned to stand as a candidate in Kingswood. This by-election will take place on 7 March. You can find a full list of all upcoming by-elections for the month ahead on the front page of WhoCanIVoteFor.co.uk.

All the best,

The Democracy Club Team