Around 9m voters missing from electoral rolls as ministers ignore calls for change

Exclusive: Almost one year has passed since watchdog called for modern methods to plug huge gaps – and now seat boundaries are being redrawn

Working from home: tech can help keep things on track (Getty/iStock)

Around nine million voters – most thought likely to oppose the Conservatives – will not be counted when new Westminster seats are drawn up, after official recommendations to plug huge gaps on electoral rolls were ignored.

Ministers have failed to respond to the Electoral Commission’s call for modern methods to drag registration into the 21st century for almost one year, The Independent can reveal.

The watchdog called for other databases and services to be used to automatically enrol missing names, a “key area” to improve the voting process, it said – but the government has remained silent for 11 months.

As a result, between 8.3 and 9.4 million people are missing from the rolls, or wrongly registered, mainly the young, renters, in urban areas – those least likely to back Boris Johnson’s party.

They will now be excluded when the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies are redrawn for the next general election, potentially skewing the crucial process.

The commission has criticised the delay, saying “action should begin now”, while Labour accused ministers of deliberately excluding voters likely to support other parties.

“Once again, the government has been unacceptably slow to act,” said Cat Smith, Labour’s spokeswoman for voter engagement.

“The Tories know that when lots of people are registered to vote, they are less likely to do well in elections – which is why the government has done nothing to address this unprecedented democratic crisis.”

The National Union of Students (NUS) also attacked the failure to act, warning students are among those likely to be disenfranchised “because they move home more frequently”.

“Their views must be heard, even if they are inconvenient to those in power. We must have automatic voter registration to ensure all our citizens have a voice,” said Liam McCabe, the president of NUS Scotland.

The controversy comes hard-on-the-heels of other criticism that the government is suppressing voter turnout, including by removing a requirement on town halls to canvas all homes every year.

Ministers have been taken to court over trials requiring voters being asked to show identification at the ballot box – a policy that will be extended nationwide, under new legislation.

The commission’s proposals included allowing town hall electoral registration officers (EROs) to tap into government data “to make registration easier for voters”.

It pointed out that the national registration website is already linked to the Department for Work and Pensions’ database, for example – yet EROs cannot use the information to find voters.

Applications could also be made simultaneously as part of using other public services, the watchdog said, including the issuing of national insurance numbers.

It concluded that “all the reforms were feasible from a technical and operational perspective and could be implemented without radically altering the structure of the electoral registration system in the UK”.

The commission has also stressed the need for “the parliamentary boundary review process to be informed by electoral registration data that is as accurate and complete as possible”.

The parliamentary boundaries bill, currently before the Commons, will no longer slash the number of seats from 650 to 600 – after Tory backbench opposition – but will make big changes to the shape of seats.

Previously, the Boundary Commissions’ proposals would have been scrutinised and voted on by MPs, but they will now become law automatically – under a separate, also controversial switch.

Ailsa Irvine, the commission’s director of electoral administration, told The Independent that “fundamental changes” were needed to make electoral registers more “accurate and complete”.

“This includes looking at the potential for making it more joined up with other public services, and considering automatic or more automated forms of registration,” she said.

“There is an opportunity between now and the next scheduled general election to initiate real change, and action should begin now.”

A Cabinet Office spokesperson was unable to say why there had been no response to the proposals, but said: “The government has no plans to introduce automatic voter registration as it could lead to a less accurate electoral register, especially if people have moved recently.”

The spokesperson added: “We want as many people as possible to register to vote and it is now easier than ever to do so. The 2019 general election was contested on the largest ever electoral register.”