Automatic voter registration set to get underway
Chris Haines ICNN Senedd reporter
Wales will become the first part of the UK to bring in automatic voter registration when pilots get underway next month.
Jayne Bryant, Wales’ local government secretary, said Carmarthenshire, Gwynedd, Newport and Powys will pilot automatic registration between December 2024 and September 2025.
She told the Senedd that the Electoral Commission will evaluate the pilots before a wider roll out, with an estimated 400,000 people set to be added to the register in Wales.
Ms Bryant suggested UK Government colleagues will be watching closely, with Labour committed to following Wales’ lead to add millions more people to the electoral roll.
Responding to the statement about elections on November 19, the Conservatives’ Darren Millar questioned whether automatic registration will lead to an increase in engagement.
He said: “I don’t actually think it’s going to deliver a significant change in the turnout figures.”
‘Under-engaged’
But Plaid Cymru’s Peredur Owen Griffiths supported the “simple” measure, arguing it will make participating in Senedd and council elections more accessible for everyone.
He said: “It will ensure that people in Wales, particularly young voters and qualifying foreign citizens, remain on the electoral roll without the risk of unknowingly dropping off. It will also help enfranchise groups that are often under-represented and under-engaged in politics.”
Mr Millar also raised alarm about the “shocking” state of town and community councils after a report warned challenges threaten the very foundation of local democracy.
The Tory, who started as a town councillor, said: “It is, frankly, pretty shocking that three quarters of people don’t face elections and that 16% of the seats on our town and community councils are not even contested.
“They are things that we do need to address, that we need to get to grips with, otherwise, frankly, we need to ask ourselves the question as to whether that tier of local government is actually something that should continue, frankly.”
‘Barking’
Ms Bryant said the Welsh Government would consider any necessary reforms of town and community councils following an ongoing Senedd local government committee inquiry.
Turning to principal councils, she said ministers gave local authorities the option to choose between first past the post and the single transferable vote (STV) electoral systems in 2021.
Calling for feedback to ensure the choice is viable, she noted that no council has taken up the option – with Ceredigion, Gwynedd and Powys rejecting STV following consultations.
Mr Millar said: “I find it fascinating that Plaid Cymru in Ceredigion and in Gwynedd don’t like the single transferable vote when their own members in this chamber, of course, keep barking on about the importance of STV at all levels.”
Mr Owen Griffiths sought to set the record straight, saying: “The majority voted ‘for’ in Gwynedd, but you need a supermajority to be able to get over the line, so it meant that the Plaid group were in favour but didn’t quite get there.”
‘Barriers’
He urged the Welsh Government to introduce a proportional system for council elections by 2032 to bring Wales in line with Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Mr Owen Griffiths also raised concerns about voter ID requirements introduced by the previous UK Government, saying: “These requirements, rather than protecting democracy, risked undermining it by creating unnecessary barriers for citizens to engage in politics.”
Ms Bryant assured Senedd members that the Welsh Government remains committed to not introducing voter ID for devolved elections.
Responding to last week’s Electoral Commission report on harassment and abuse in July’s general election, Ms Bryant said too many candidates experience unacceptable behaviour.
She said legislation will be updated to exempt safety costs from spending limits for Welsh elections in line with a recommendation following the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox in 2016.
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I suspect that this will generate ghost voters or be exploited to gerrymander elections by those who already manipulate postal votes as has happened in certain ethnic minority communities in Keighley and North Manchester. We are sadly inevitably heading towards ID cards because we no longer know our neighbours and the government can’t control who is and who is not in the country. This is a crazy idea and should be stopped.
I would suspect that fake ID would very quickly appear. Any system can be gamed but the higher the turnout the less likely any return will be gained.
The Electoral Commission says – “In the past 5 years, there is no evidence of large-scale electoral fraud.
Of the 1,462 cases of alleged electoral fraud reported to police between 2019 and 2023, 11 led to convictions and the police issued 4 cautions.
Most cases either resulted in the police taking no further action or were locally resolved by the police issuing words of advice“
How many have been convicted.
How many were turned away that had a legal right to vote.
Mr Millar is happy to bring in voter ID though that would put many obstacles in the way of people voting removing their right. But increasing the chance of people voting? Nah….
This report is wrong. It tells us that Ceredigion, Powys and Gwynedd consultations rejected STV as their voting system. The results in favour at STV was 67% in Ceredigion, 61% in Powys and were 72% in Gwynedd. However, the Welsh Government set the ‘threshold’ at 75% for this to be adopted. This is just a Labour Party definition of democracy, majorities don’t count if it doesn’t match what the Labour Party wants.
Honestly never understood why this isn’t automatic already, like NI generated at birth. To register some of my kids to vote I ironically had to use their NI number. Auto generate and then get us to do the checks as now online. Voting is a right and must be encouraged.
Automatic voter registration implies there is now enough information on us from our interaction with state agencies to maintain an accurate and up-to-date list of who is entitled to vote in a particular constituency. Big Brother knows where you live! How would the accuracy of this list be checked and who would do this? I hope that those of us who are interested in exercising our democratic rights get the chance to confirm our registration before we are turned away from the polling station.