Queen's Speech 2021 - Electoral Integrity Bill

“My Government will strengthen and renew democracy and the constitution. Legislation will be introduced to ensure the integrity of elections...”

The purpose of the Bill is to:

● Deliver manifesto pledges to tackle electoral fraud, prevent foreign interference and to make it easier for British expats to participate in elections.

The main benefits of the Bill would be:

●

• ● Increasing transparency, fairness and accountability within political campaigning, and further preventing foreign interference.

• ● Making our polls more inclusive by ensuring that voters with disabilities are better supported to exercise their right to vote.

• ● Increasing participation in our democracy for British citizens living abroad.

  The main elements of the Bill are:

• ● Improving the absent ballot process by increasing protection on postal and proxy voting, including banning postal vote ‘harvesting’.

• ● Strengthening the laws on intimidation and undue influence.

• ● Requiring identification to vote in a polling station, as already required in Northern

  Ireland.

• ● Extending the ‘imprint’ requirement to digital political campaigning, and introducing measures to prevent foreign interference in elections.

• ● Improving access to voting for electors with disabilities.

• ● Removing the 15 year limit on the voting rights of British expats and making it easier to cast their vote.

Giving voters confidence that their vote is theirs, and theirs alone, by tackling

electoral

fraud

and intimidation.

Territorial extent and application

● This Bill will extend and apply to the whole of the UK. The UK Government is engaging with the Scottish Government and Welsh Government on the scope for applying certain provisions to devolved elections.

Key facts

• ● Sir Eric Pickles produced a comprehensive Government report on election fraud in 2016. This followed the 2015 election court judgement on election corruption in Tower Hamlets, and previous election court judgments, which have exposed the vulnerability of Britain’s electoral system.

• ● Northern Ireland elections have required photographic identification in polling stations since 2003, since being introduced by the last Labour Government, without an adverse effect on participation

• ● The Government has undertaken a programme of work to tackle intimidation in public life, following a review by the Committee on Standards in Public Life after the 2017 general election.