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1198963

registered interest
date	01/06/2020
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Voting Behaviour
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing compulsory voting at elections.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	52230
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2020 answer text <p>The Government has no plans to change the voting age, having been elected on a manifesto commitment to retain the current franchise at 18.</p><p>The Government has no plans to introduce automatic registration. The Government considers registering to vote (and voting) to be a civic duty, but does not believe it should be compulsory. With online registration, the Government has made it easier than ever for those who want to to register.</p><p>The Cabinet Office does not hold information on eligible electors who are not registered to vote for an election. Numbers registered for electoral events are published by the Electoral Commission. Reports on the 2015, 2017, and 2019 General Elections have been produced by the Electoral Commission and are available online at <a href="http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/" target="_blank">www.electoralcommission.org.uk</a>.</p><p>Some headline registration statistics by area published by the Office for National Statistics. The latest bulletin is available at <a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/elections/electoralregistration" target="_blank">www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/elections/electoralregistration</a>.</p><p>The Cabinet Office has recently considered creating a live registration status check. There are technical, security and privacy issues but the Cabinet Office will continue to see whether future developments provide a feasible and cost-effective solution in coming years.</p><p>The Government believes that there is no clear evidence that voting on a national holiday would lead to an increase in turnout.</p><p>The Government was elected on a manifesto pledge to continue to support First Past the Post for parliamentary elections. The First Past the Post system is a robust and secure way of electing Members of Parliament. It ensures a clear link between elected representatives and constituents in a manner that systems of Proportional Representation may not. This ensures that MPs can represent the interests of their constituents when debating national issues.</p><p>The UK Government works closely with ministers and officials in devolved administrations on a range of issues relating to elections, including electoral registration issues. Details of discussions are not normally disclosed.</p><p>Each Electoral Registration Officer maintains a register for their own local area, including the number of overseas electors registered in their area. Information is not collated or held centrally on voting by electors. The Government does not hold data on UK citizens resident overseas who are registered to vote, who have successfully applied for absent voting, or who voted in the 2019 UK Parliamentary General Election.</p><p>Since 2013/14, the Government has provided more than £27 million to promote electoral registration and democratic engagement more widely, including among young people. For the 2019 General Election, of the 3.5 million people who registered to vote online between the day the poll was announced and the registration deadline, 66.1% were aged between 18 and 34.</p><p>The Cabinet Office is working closely with the Electoral Commission, Association of Electoral Administrators and Society of Local Government Chief Executives to support local authorities to deliver their duties in line with the Government’s guidance on Coronavirus. This includes working with the Electoral Commission on guidance for the 2020 canvass, which is now published on their website.</p><p>The planning and running of polls is the responsibility of Returning Officers, who are statutorily independent of local or national government. The Government does not collect data on those turned away from polls.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith grouped question UIN 52223 52226 52227 52228 52231 52232 53514 53516 53521 53522 53523 53525 53526 53530 question first answered 09/06/2020 14:40:25 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1109825

registered interest
date	04/04/2019
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Voting Behaviour
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to improve democratic participation among its lay members.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	240953
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>The Church of England encourages responsible democratic participation in its schools and parishes, as one of the stakeholders involved with UK Parliament Week, and as a provider of hustings and other forms of engagement at election times. The General Synod is the Church’s own national legislative body, to which lay members can be elected. The Ecclesiastical Committee of Parliament is expected soon to consider a Church Measure that will reform and simplify Church representation rules on elections for Parochial Church Councils, Deanery and Diocesan Synods.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 08/04/2019 15:57:40 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

971503

registered interest
date	10/09/2018
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Voting Behaviour
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase the level of participation in elections.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	172613
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2018 answer text <p>The Government is committed to building a democracy that works for everyone. To promote democratic engagement, National Democracy Week was held in July 2018 and the Cabinet Office is leading on three projects funded by the Suffrage Centenary Fund Programme. These are the Democracy Ambassadors Scheme to recruit and train youth democracy ambassadors, the development and publication of a toolkit for parliamentarians to engage young people, and a new secondary schools resource which will be released later this year.</p><p> </p><p>More widely, on 30 August 2018 the Government published the response to its Call for Evidence on Access to Elections. This includes a series of actions to be taken forward to remove identified barriers to further support disabled people to participate in elections.</p><p> </p><p>We also expect to boost democratic participation through work on voter identification and the measures proposed in the Government’s consultation “Protecting the Debate: Intimidation, Influence and Information.” Democratic participation is more likely when citizens can cast their vote in confidence. Proposed measures to tackle intimidation will help ensure voters can make a free choice at the ballot box, based on an informed discussion focused on policy and principle, rather than on misinformation or abuse.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 20/09/2018 13:12:19 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

914977

registered interest
date	01/06/2018
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Voting Behaviour
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect on trends in the level of voting in elections of opening polling stations at weekends.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	148901
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2018 answer text <p>Previous pilots of weekend voting showed no significant variation in turnout and the consultation undertaken by the Labour Government in 2009 showed that a majority of respondents favoured retaining polling on a weekday and that moving to weekend voting could double or even triple costs.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 08/06/2018 15:00:26 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

759171

registered interest
date	11/09/2017
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Voting Behaviour
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on likelihood to vote based on distance from polling station for each socio-economic group.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	9743
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/09/2017 answer text <p><strong>We do not hold any information of the type described.</strong></p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 19/09/2017 09:29:29 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

754484

registered interest
date	20/07/2017
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Voting Behaviour
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure people can vote only once in an election.
tabling member constituency	Bury St Edmunds
tabling member printed	Jo Churchill
uin	6701
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2017 answer text <p>Voting more than once at a General Election or at other national polls such as a referendum is a crime which carries a financial penalty.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We take this matter very seriously. I have raised this issue as a priority with the Electoral Commission, and will consider carefully the findings of their report on electoral registration at the 2017 General Election, as well as their upcoming report on the administration of that poll.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>It is possible to determine whether an individual has voted twice at a General Election by checking the marked register of those who have voted. If anyone has evidence of someone voting twice, then they should report this to their local returning officer and to the police.</p><p> </p><p>I have also written to the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) to reiterate the Government's support for the police to make every effort to investigate reports of criminal behaviour in relation to elections.</p><p> </p><p>The Government will continue to consider if further steps should be taken to ensure the integrity of the electoral system and where opportunities could exist to reiterate that voting more than once at the General Election or other national polls is illegal.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 05/09/2017 13:26:57 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill

748502

registered interest
date	05/07/2017
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Voting Behaviour
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure people can only vote once in an election.
tabling member constituency	North Swindon
tabling member printed	Justin Tomlinson
uin	3241
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2017 answer text <p>Voting in more than one location at a General Election or at other national polls such as a referendum is a crime which carries an unlimited financial penalty.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We take this matter very seriously. I have raised this issue as a priority with the Electoral Commission and look forward to their report on the 2017 General Election.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>It is possible to determine whether an individual has voted twice at a General Election by checking the marked register of those who have voted. If anyone has evidence of someone voting twice, then they should report this to their local returning officer and to the police.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 11/07/2017 14:03:26 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson

732635

registered interest
date	26/06/2017
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Voting Behaviour
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the merits of introducing compulsory voting at future elections.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	1038
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2017 answer text <p>The Government believes that everyone should have the opportunity to vote and has taken steps to increase electoral participation. We are committed to maximising electoral registration to ensure that the largest possible number of people are able to vote in any election.</p><p>The Government believes that there is no clear evidence that voting on a national holiday would lead to an increase in turnout.</p><p>The Government’s manifesto made a commitment to extending the First Past the Post to all UK elections. The Government’s view is that the First Past the Post system is well-understood by the electorate and provides a clear link between constituents and their representative in Parliament. In each constituency, candidates are elected to represent the views of their constituents and in each case a candidate for whom more people voted than for any of the alternatives is elected. Furthermore, in the May 2011 the UK held a referendum where more than two-thirds voted against switching to the ‘Alternative Vote’ (AV) system and in favour of retaining first past the post. As a result, it would be hard to justify ignoring the democratic verdict in the referendum, and equally as hard to make a case for a further referendum on a more ambitious reform such as PR.</p><p>It is believed by some that the introduction of compulsory voting would improve turnout and democratic engagement. However, the Government believes that when participating in a ballot, the position should be that an elector makes a positive choice rather than a negative one. It does not agree, therefore, that the introduction of compulsory voting would be a positive step.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 1090 1166 question first answered 04/07/2017 15:17:19 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

731600

registered interest
date	21/06/2017
answering body	Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
answering dept id	36
answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
hansard heading	Voting Behaviour
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if she will conduct a national audit to determine how many (a) students and (b) other registered voters voted in more than one parliamentary constituency in the General Election 2017.
tabling member constituency	Lichfield
tabling member printed	Michael Fabricant
uin	140
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2017 answer text <p>The UK’s electoral registers are maintained by individual Electoral Registration Officers appointed by each local authority in Great Britain and by the Chief Electoral Officer in Northern Ireland. This means that it would not be feasible to identify duplicate entries between registers without considerable additional financial and operational resources. Providing a mechanism for EROs to compare information about electoral register entries more automatically across all 381 registers could help to further improve the accuracy and completeness of electoral registers and could also help to address the risk of voting more than once at a relevant election.</p><p>It is an offence under Section 61(2)(a) of the Representation of the People Act 1983, for an elector to cast more than one vote on their own behalf in a UK Parliamentary general election or at a referendum. This offence carries a fine which is unlimited in England and Wales, or a fine not exceeding £5,000 in Scotland.</p><p>Investigations into possible criminal offenses are a matter for the relevant police forces. The Electoral Commission has provided advice and guidance to UK police forces about how to investigate allegations that an individual may have voted twice, including obtaining from the relevant Returning Officers the marked copy of the register.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Houghton and Sunderland South answering member printed Bridget Phillipson question first answered 17/07/2017 16:01:57 answering member 4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson
tabling member	280 label Biography information for Michael Fabricant

709948

registered interest
date	10/03/2017
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Voting Behaviour
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase voter engagement and participation among those least likely to vote including (a) homeless and b) young people; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	67427
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2017 answer text <p>As part of my “Every Voice Matters” tour, I am visiting every nation and region of the United Kingdom to hear about the barriers that prevent some groups – including homeless and young people – from participating in the democratic system. We will publish lessonslearned later this year and work with partner organisations to respond to the issuesidentified.</p><p>Specifically, I have visited Cambridge to meet with homelessness organisations and their clients to hear how the electoral registration system could better respond to their needs. We will continue to work with homelessness charities, such as Shelter and others to overcome barriers and help those with no fixed address to register to vote.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 22/03/2017 14:22:39 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas