Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns about proposals contained in the Government’s Elections Bill. The opposition voted against the Bill at Second Reading on 7 September 2021. I believe we need to encourage more people to participate in our democracy and not erect unnecessary barriers which make it harder to do so.

I share your concern over the plans to make it compulsory to show ID at a polling station by 2023 for both local elections in England and UK General Elections. Ministers claim this will make these elections more secure by preventing in-person voter fraud. However, the Government’s own findings show our current voting system is safe and secure. The independent Electoral Commission says there are “low levels of proven electoral fraud”. In 2019, for example, there was just one conviction and one police caution for someone impersonating another voter.

Ministers have also yet to provide an estimate of the cost of their plans, but in 2018, the Cabinet Office put the potential cost at £20 million per General Election. I know some civil society groups have argued such money would be better spent on improving electoral registration because as many as 9.4 million people in Great Britain are not correctly registered to vote.

More widely, I am also concerned about the Government’s plans to limit the powers of the Electoral Commission. In my view, it is not for any government to dictate the priorities of an independent watchdog into elections. I believe there are already adequate provisions in place to ensure the Commission is accountable to Parliament.

Lastly, I worry that the measures in the Bill to allow overseas donors to fund political parties beyond the current fifteen-year limit will create a dangerous loophole in electoral law. At the same time as these rules are being relaxed, the rules governing campaigning by trade unions and charities are being tightened. In my view, these clauses are an attack on freedom of speech and association and undermine the independence of third sector organisations who are a vital voice for marginalised people in our elections.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this important issue.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Dowd MP