Chamber and committees

You and I are both postal voters, but it is a system that can create anxiety for some people, who get flustered by the processes that they have to go through. Anything that can be done—in this context and moving forward—to make it easier to access that system would be all to the good.

I will bring in Iain on the detail, but I note that we are not talking about huge numbers of people. The costs to be shared between Scotland and Wales for becoming involved in the system are marginally over £2 million—about £1 million each. Obviously, that cost is being met. Perhaps Iain can outline the detail of the conversations that have been had with EROs.

It might be helpful to offer some numbers, convener. The precise number of people who will be affected by convergence issues is understood to be quite small. As the committee will appreciate, we do not have a precise number. However, to give a sense of the situation, the January data provided by Idox—which is one of the two electoral management system providers in Scotland, and by far the largest—indicates that there are 140 voters with different named proxies for reserved and devolved elections and 227 voters who have provided different addresses. We are therefore talking about a few hundred people, but it is nonetheless right to make the point.

I will take away Ruth Maguire’s point and will discuss how we can ensure that there are repeated attempts to capture everyone.

No.

Thank you for the invitation to attend the committee today.

Since 2023, voters in United Kingdom Parliament elections have been able to apply online for a postal or proxy vote, but a paper application was needed for Scottish Parliament and local government elections. The legislation before the committee today will permit access by voters in those elections to the UK Government’s online absent voting application system from 3 November onwards. As well as extending the benefits of being able to apply online, it will end the divergence created by the Elections Act 2022. Voters will, once again, be able to make one application for an absent vote to cover all elections for which they are eligible. Some compromises have been required to achieve that goal. The new rules for postal and proxy vote applications will mean that voters will have to provide their national insurance number or another form of identification if they do not have that one. There will also be a move to a three-year cycle for reapplying for a continuing postal vote.

The legislation also sets out arrangements to manage the transition of existing records to the new system. The system can hold only one matching absent voting record for all elections in which the person can vote. That will typically mean that voters will apply for one continuing absent vote—postal or proxy—for all elections. Because the system holds only one type of absent vote, provision is made to align the record when voters have different arrangements ahead of the go-live on 3 November. For example, if a voter has a Scottish Parliament postal vote ending in 2027 and a UK Parliament postal vote ending in 2028, the change will now see both records due to renew in 2028.

In a very small number of cases, voters will be contacted and invited to make a fresh application to align the records—for example, when they have a postal vote for one type of election and a proxy vote for another. If they do not respond, the UK Parliament record will prevail, as we do not have the power to amend that, and the voter will be informed that they will need to reapply for a devolved absent vote. For example, if a person holds a postal vote for UK Parliament elections and a proxy vote for Scottish Parliament elections and the voter takes no action, the proxy vote for Scottish Parliament elections will end on 3 November. The Electoral Commission is preparing guidance on the consequences of the records merging, and electoral registration officers will contact affected voters ahead of 3 November to inform them of their options.

The legislation is being prepared in close co-operation with the UK and Welsh Governments, and related statutory instruments are due to be laid before Westminster and the Senedd. The Electoral Commission and the electoral registration officers for Scotland and Wales have also been consulted, and work is on-going to ensure clear communication in the run-up to the 3 November go-live. Those changes are, self-evidently, expected to assist voters ahead of the 2027 local government elections.

I am happy to take any questions.

That is correct, and it is good to get that on the record.

Do you want to come in, Iain?

Much of that will be start-up cost. Once the system is up and running, I do not see why it would increase markedly. Fundamentally, it is the start-up costs of getting into the system that are accounted for—both for us and for Wales.

Thank you for that cheery thought. The assurance that I can offer is of the time that is being permitted to get to the go-live date. I remember being in front of the committee a few months ago, when the talk was of going live as soon as possible after the Scottish Parliament election. We and our Welsh colleagues have been persuaded that we should afford a greater period of time, to ensure that the teething issues that Iain Hockenhull identified are dealt with completely and that the guidance that we talked about is provided in the form that we would all want it to be in. By allowing that period, we are erring on the side of caution to ensure that we have got it right. That is the assurance.

I will have no influence over whether there is an unanticipated election—I will not be involved in it. A lot of work has gone in to make sure that we get it right, and, as I said, the co-operation on it with the UK Government and the Welsh Government has been first class.

You touched on something there, convener. It is my intention, if the Parliament approves the instruments, to write to the Electoral Commission to ask for assurance that the guidance that it is putting together will be comprehensive in dealing with matters such as those that you have highlighted and that it will be in plain English, because this committee has highlighted concerns about that. I will ask the Electoral Commission to share the draft guidance with my successor, and I am happy to ask it to share the draft guidance with your successor committee. We have a period of time in which to get the guidance right, and we should take this opportunity to ensure that concerns that have legitimately been raised by this committee and others about the nature of guidance are taken on board. Perhaps we can set a new path in that regard.