Select committee to examine resilience of UK general elections following implementation of Elections Act 2022
The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) is to review the administration, process and conduct of the 2024 general election, and how these could be improved for future elections.
The inquiry follows an Electoral Commission report on the 2024 general election, which concluded that “overall, the May and July 2024 elections were well-run, and voters continue to have high levels of confidence and satisfaction in the polls”.
The Commission did, however, note “a number of significant improvements necessary to support participation and trust in future elections”.
These included postal voting, overseas voting, Voter ID and tackling intimidation of candidates and campaigners.
The PACAC said member MPs would be seeking to look more closely at these issues, as well as others, on behalf of Parliament.
The committee is inviting evidence on the following areas:
- Postal voting
- The requirement for photographic identification at the polling station
- Overseas voters
- Measures in place to prevent and tackle abuse and intimidation of candidates.
- The voter registration processes.
Submissions can be made via the online evidence portal. Deadline for submission is Monday 27 January.
Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Simon Hoare MP, said: “While this year’s elections were delivered successfully, the Elections Act 2022 has placed greater burdens on our electoral system than ever before.
“With an ever-changing franchise and more demands being placed on a system which is already operating at close to full capacity, we need to make sure our processes continue to be robust and resilient for future elections.”
