Khan confirms Labour plans for automatic voter registration

It was alluded to in yesterday’s manifesto, but Sadiq Khan will today confirm that a Labour government would implement automatic voter registration.

In a departure from the current system, Labour will explore giving local authorities the power to automatically register people to vote. That means that instead of having to fill in a form or go online to register to vote, local authorities would use data in their possession as well as those of government departments to add those eligible to vote to the electoral register.

Data used could include driving licences, council tax records, vehicle registration data, lists of council tenants, school or college rolls, and HMRC records – and would help to address the 7.5 million people currently thought to be missing from electoral rolls in the UK. However, only those who achieve a “minimum threshold” would be added to the register – and anyone who wants to stay off the register could be removed.

Such plans would constitute the biggest change to voter registration in decades – and civil servants will be asked by Labour to work up the plans within weeks of the election if the party takes office. Speaking ahead of the announcement, Khan said:

“If Labour wins in May, we’ll overhaul of the way people register to vote in a generation. If the government is confident enough to give people a driving licence or tax them, then it shouldn’t be rocket science to sign them up to vote too. If implemented, this would make registering to vote an effort free process for millions of people.”