Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government whether voter ID will be required
for a recall petition.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Levelling Up, Housing & Communities () (Con)
My Lords, the Answer is, yes, it is set out in legislation that
voter identification is required in order for an elector to sign
the signing sheet in person at an MP recall petition.
(Lab)
My Lords, at least 14,000 people without ID were not able to vote
in local elections, even on a date known to them in advance, so
they had time to get ID if they did not have a passport. But
recall petitions are sudden, unexpected and speedy, with no
national awareness campaign. There is a petition in Scotland with
just 40 days to obtain that photo ID, if you do not have a
passport, and then to sign in person, as the Minister said. Three
Tory recall petitions could have happened; two were saved by the
MPs resigning, but one may still be to come. Given that 10% of
voters are needed to trigger a by-election, anyone being unable
to obtain voter ID in time makes recall less possible. How
convenient for the Government. So will the Minister agree that a
review is urgently needed if the recall procedure is to work as
the Government first intended?
(Con)
I am sorry to disappoint the noble Baroness but I cannot agree
that we should look at this again; it was not long ago that we
looked at all this in the now enacted Elections Bill. On the 40
days, I assure the noble Baroness that the election department
has been working on the voter identification process where anyone
needs a VAC. It also wrote to all the electorate about the
process, giving clear instructions that people would require
voter ID, and instructions on what voter ID was available for
them to use and, if they could not, where they could get a
VAC.
(Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that the Electoral
Commission report clearly demonstrates that all the fuss about
the effect of voter ID has proved to be an exaggeration? We are
talking about less than a percentage point. Does my noble friend
further agree that, given that it is part of our voting system,
it would now make some sense to re-examine the qualifications for
voter ID, particularly among the young? Will she keep those
categories constantly under review?
(Con)
My noble friend is right. We are very encouraged by the first
interim report from the Electoral Commission, but there is a lot
more work to be done. It was only an interim analysis; the final
analysis will be published in the autumn. The Government are
looking both qualitatively and quantitatively at the May
elections, and the report will be out by the end of November.
When we get those reviews, we need to see if any changes need to
be made, including on voter ID and young people.
(LD)
My Lords, many constituencies have several hundred overseas
voters; some have over 1,000. The extension of overseas voting
rights would increase those numbers very considerably. What
arrangements do the Government have in hand to make sure that, in
the event of a recall petition in a constituency, its overseas
voters are informed in a timely fashion so that they can
participate?
(Con)
My Lords, there will be a lot of changes in respect of overseas
voters. I will have to write to the noble Lord on recall
petitions.
(Con)
My Lords, I lived in Brussels for 40 years and voted in Belgium.
I had a voter ID card throughout that time, and it was never an
issue with any of the parties there. Is this not a bit of a false
debate?
(Con)
My noble friend is right. We have had this debate over and over
again, and it is clear that many countries, including Northern
Ireland, have voter ID. It works very well, and the people of
Northern Ireland are very happy with it. We agreed to do this in
our manifesto and will continue to do so. We look forward to it
working as well here as it does in many other countries.
of Ullock (Lab)
My Lords, the noble Lord, , talked about the initial
report from the Electoral Commission. Our concern is that it
showed that many thousands of people were turned away, many of
whom did not return. We do not know the impact on those who were
put off going in the first place, so the Government should not be
complacent about that. It concerns me that we have by-elections
and elections for recall petitions coming up, but the Government
will not act on any of the recommendations and the final report
is not coming out until September. Why will the Government not
pause the process until they can be more confident about the
outcomes?
(Con)
My Lords, the Government are confident about the outcomes. The
initial evidence shows that it was a very successful first step.
We are pleased to see the Electoral Commission’s report,
according to which there were continually high levels of
satisfaction with our voting system; 89% of polling station
voters said that they were fairly or very satisfied. That is
good, and a higher figure than during similar elections in
2019.
(Con)
My Lords, I was one of the earliest proponents of this recall
mechanism, in 2008. The then leader of the Opposition, , liked the idea and put it in
the 2010 manifesto—but then the rats got at it. Instead of it
being a mechanism through which ordinary constituents could
demand a recall, we had to have an initial procedure whereby the
Privileges Committee, in effect, picked out which of its numbers
from the other place it did not want. Will my noble friend the
Minister look again at returning to the principle of diffusing
power from Parliament to the electorate, rather than
concentrating it in the hands of parliamentary committees, so
that we return to the idea that only the voters determine the
composition of another House?
(Con)
My Lords, my noble friend raises an interesting point. The
Government have no plans to look back at the way in which recall
petitions are done, but I am more than happy to talk to him
further on this issue and take it back to the department.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Minister has repeated that, in the Government’s
view, 14,000 people being turned away from the polling station
represents a success. Could she tell us what a failure would
be?
(Con)
My Lords, there are many reasons why those people did not vote at
that time. The Electoral Commission made clear in its interim
report that it was satisfied, and it said that it needed further
time for further evidence. Let us wait until November, as we said
in legislation that we would, when we will get both the
qualitative and the quantitative evidence.
(Con)
My Lords, I do not agree on this occasion with the noble
Baroness, Lady Hayter, and her comments about recall petitions.
As I understand the law, there is a requirement that 10% of the
electorate sign the petition, but the petition stays open ad
infinitum until the conclusion of the period, despite the fact
that the 10% threshold may have been met after five, six or seven
days. Is there not a need to review the recall petition
legislation in order to avoid unnecessary cost and duration of
this process?
(Con)
No, my Lords, I think my noble friend is wrong in this case. The
Government feel that recall petitions should remain open even
when the 10% threshold has been reached, mainly because if
somebody gets a letter saying that they have a right to sign a
petition, it should not be closed until the time given in that
letter, and they should have their right to sign.
(Lab)
Can the Minister reassure the House that the Government will take
steps to make a record of electors who go to sign their name at a
recall petition and are refused for lack of voter
identification?
(Con)
My Lords, the Government have made it very clear that they will
look at all the data from any petition or election, as they did
in May this year.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, in my part of the United Kingdom we have had voter
identification for decades now, and in fact, we have some of the
highest turnouts at elections anywhere in the United Kingdom. I
am sure the electoral commission of Northern Ireland and indeed
the Electoral Office will be more than happy to share what they
have learned about voter identification over many years, and the
Minister may wish to avail herself of that advice and
assistance.
(Con)
I thank the noble Baroness. We have already availed ourselves of
the electoral officers in Northern Ireland, where this has been
such a success. It will be in this country as well.
