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Have your say about how to vote

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have your say about voting changesSurvey on making changes to the current voting arrangements launched.

The UK government’s Political and Constitutional Reform Committee has launched a survey asking the public for their views on how voting arrangements should be reformed.

The proposals the committee is asking for views on include:

Extending the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds;

Letting voters cast their vote online;

Making voting compulsory;

Including the option to vote for “none of the above” on the ballot paper;

Being able to register to vote up to and on Election Day; and

Holding elections at the weekend, or making Election Day a public holiday.

The committee plans to produce a final report on voter engagement in the New Year, informed by the results of this survey.

The survey will close on 9 January 2015.

Speaking at the launch of the survey, Graham Allen MP, chair of the committee, said: “Our democracy is facing a crisis if we do not take urgent action to make elections more accessible to the public and convince them that it is worth voting.

“Turnout for the last general election was only 65 per cent – almost 16 million voters chose not to participate – and millions of people are not even registered to vote.

“This is not an acceptable state of affairs for a modern democracy.

“The fact that almost 85 per cent of people turned out for the recent referendum on Scottish independence shows that people will turn out if they care about an issue and believe they can make a difference. This lesson needs to be learnt and applied to all other elections.

“Our interim report on voter engagement – which we published last month – considers some radical changes, like compulsory voting, online voting, and extending the franchise to younger people, because we believe a serious problem needs serious answers.

“We are launching this survey to find out what the public thinks about the proposals we are looking at, so we can put forward the best recommendations possible in a final report ahead of the 2015 general election.”

The committee welcomes written submissions on any or all of the conclusions and recommendations set out in its report on pages 82 to 94.

The committee would particularly welcome submissions from organisations that have sought the views of their members.

The deadline for written submissions is Friday 9 January 2015.

Written evidence on the proposals on voter engagement should be submitted online: click here to submit evidence on the Proposals on voter engagement.

If you are considering making a submission please read the following guidelines.

If you intend to make a submission and require further time, please email the committee.

If you have difficulty making a submission online, wish to submit evidence in an alternative format such as an audio file, or would like to make a submission after the formal deadline for evidence, please contact the committee staff.

You could also use #VoterReform to tweet your views and contribute to the debate online.

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