BITE THE BALLOT POLICY M ANIFESTO
INTRODUCTION
Bite The Ballot's primary aim is to increase the number of young people who are registered to
vote and who turnout to vote, empowering future generations of active citizens in the process.
We believe that this aim is best achieved by the combination of two equally important factors:
(a)
making electoral registration and voting as easy, engaging and accessible as
possible; and
(b)
increasing democratic engagement by appealing to the values, beliefs,
concerns and interests of young people.
A further important factor is to increase the accountability of Electoral Registration Officers.
‘EROs’ are almost solely responsible for electoral registration yet there is no mechanism to
challenge or remove them if they are not up to scratch - this needs to change.
Bite The Ballot believe the adoption of some, or all, of the proposals listed below would help
meet this policy aim.
We urge all parties’ manifesto writers to remember the importance of having a complete
electoral register and an engaged, informed and active electorate in ensuring our democracy
is robust against the challenges of the modern world. We contend that the biggest challenge
to democracy in this country is not external, but the hollowing out of it internally, brought about
by the disconnection between people and politics.
The proposals below are divided into short term proposals, which could be implemented
quickly, with minimal cost and effort, and longer term proposals which would likely require
primary legislation (for example, a Voter Registration Bill in the next Parliament).
SHORT
TERM PROPOSALS
Curriculum
Post-primary citizenship curricula (or equivalent) should educate 11-18 year-olds about ‘The
Basics’ of democracy - voter registration and citizens’ responsibilities.
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By educating young people about democracy and electoral processes we will ensure that this
generation, and all future generations, grow up engaged and informed about the civic process.
Educating teenagers about their rights from an earlier age, including informing 16 year olds
that they are able to register to vote, will increase their awareness of the scope of their
involvement in politics and UK democracy.
Making such information part of the English, Welsh, Scottish and N. I. curricula will reduce the
financial cost of registering first time voters and entrench the habit of voting from a young age;
encouraging young people to continue to be active citizens throughout their lives.
Voter engagement sessions
Voter engagement sessions should be held by EROs in all 16+ educational establishments,
with sessions adapted for the target audience.
As every individual must remain in full time education until they are 18, EROs have easy
access to the least-registered age demographic. This access should be utilised to hold voter
engagement sessions to educate 16-18 year olds about the benefits of being registered to vote
- dispelling myths, engaging minds and answering questions.
Although some EROs already visit educational establishments in their area, all EROs must be
equipped with the skills to engage young people in an appropriate manner. Resources such
as Bite The Ballot's freely available ‘The Basics’, and similar resources targeted specifically at
young people, should be used to encourage 16-18 years olds to participate in the political
process.
‘Tick box’ registration
All government forms should include a box that, if ticked, allows the relevant information to be
transferred between government departments, automatically registering the individual to vote.
When filling out forms, for example, for a passport or driving licence, individuals already provide
government bodies with all (or most of) the information required to enable them to be registered
to vote. Creating a process for this information to be shared between the relevant government
bodies would make registering to vote both easier and more accessible. This process would
be especially valuable if it were applied to provisional driving licences, which are often applied
for at the age when a person is first entitled to register to vote.
The success of such systems has been shown through the organ donor ‘tick box’ registration
system in the UK and the USA National Voter Registration Act, which both led to significant
increases in the number of individuals who were registered either to donate organs or to vote.
Enabling government bodies to share information for this purpose would also make it easier to
ensure that the electoral register is both complete and accurate.
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‘Nudges’ from government websites
Government websites should display adverts, which encourage individuals to register to vote.
Pop-up reminders and other adverts could easily be displayed on government websites,
encouraging all site visitors to register to vote, and providing them with a link to GOV.uk online
voter registration tool. While these adverts should be displayed across all government
websites, it would also be possible to target certain underrepresented groups in a more
directed manner, for instance adverts on the DVLA, UCAS, Student Loans Company,
Apprenticeships sites targeting voter registration for young people.
An additional benefit of such a policy is that it would be easily quantifiable, as technology could
easily show how many individuals accessed the links provided in the adverts and went on to
register to vote. Similar adverts have already been trialled in relation to organ donation, with
success.
National Voter Registration Day
The government, and all political parties, should recognise and support NVRD.
In 2015, Bite The Ballot co-ordinated the registration applications of 441,500 people in the
week of 2 February and inspired a week of action and engagement around the subject of voter
registration. All government bodies and politicians should support this day to help replicate and
increase this success year on year.
LONGER
TERM PROPOSALS
Same-day registration
All eligible people should be able to register to vote at the polling station on the day of the
election, provided they can provide sufficient documentation.
Same-day registration would enable as many people to vote as possible. It would ensure that
individuals do not lose their democratic rights simply because they haven't filled the out forms
on time. In particular, this policy would increase the numbers of voters from underrepresented
groups who are often unaware of the need to register before election day.
While there may be concerns about electoral fraud, it is clear that these could be remedied by
requiring individuals to provide appropriate documentation to identify themselves and their
address. With advances in technology, it is now possible to ensure people do not vote in more
than one location.
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E-voting
All registered voters should be able to vote online.
Technology has developed dramatically in recent years, but the processes that are used to
vote and register to vote haven't updated as quickly. Although the new registration system
allows individuals to register online, the next step is to allow people to vote online too - as in
other countries (such as Estonia). This could also allow information about different candidates
to be accessible at the time of voting which would encourage greater engagement in the
process.
Today’s population, particularly younger generations, use technology in all areas of their lives
and expect to be able to use technology in the electoral process too. It is also clear that more
individuals would be likely to vote if they didn't have to travel to the correct polling station. Evoting could also be combined with (or trialled by) extending online registration up to the day
before any election.
Electoral Registration Officers’ accountability
EROs need to be accountable to the public.
There is currently an absence of any meaningful method to hold EROs accountable. There
are many EROs who perform their role extremely well, but there are even more who do not
take steps to improve the numbers of underrepresented groups on the register. Indeed, a small
minority of EROs are responsible for largely incomplete registers. In addition, there are a
number of examples of EROs failing to meet the performance standards set by the Electoral
Commission year on year, but no action has been taken against these individuals.
Such failures are unacceptable as they risk marginalising whole sections of our population by
removing their ability to participate in the democratic process. This also leads to inaccurate,
not just incomplete, registers. In order to ensure EROs fulfil the requirements of their job, it is
essential that there is a process by which they can be held accountable for their failures and,
where necessary, removed from the office. This could perhaps be a stand-alone process,
perhaps overseen by the Electoral Commission or a Secretary of State.
An alternative approach would be to remove the need for EROs by centralising the process for
electoral registration so that it can be managed by professional, accountable experts.