UK electoral processes ‘unfit for purpose’

A new report from the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) has called for a ‘root and branch review’ of the electoral process in the UK.

The EU referendum, the transition to Individual Electoral Registration and the May elections have all caused ‘unprecedented’ challenges, with the AEA warning that ‘the system came closer to collapse than ever before.’

The report, ‘Pushed to the absolute limit: 2016 - the electoral year never to forget’, calls on Whitehall to make a number of recommendations to reform electoral processes, including bringing forward a single Electoral Administration Act which would set out the high-level framework governing electoral registration, elections and referendums in the UK. It is widely believed that this would help to simplify the rules across all electoral administration matters.

John Turner, chief executive of the AEA, said: “The AEA has long been of the view that what is required is a root and branch review of the whole arrangements for registration and the conduct of elections rather than more adjustment and change to a system so deeply rooted in the 19th century.

“Many of the problems that currently exist and which surfaced again at this year’s elections are because of the historic nature of the systems in place and which are increasingly becoming unfit for purpose.”