Agenda item

70.1     At the invitation of the Mayor, the Leader introduced the Motion that had been submitted by himself and Cllr Peter Clark, and seconded by Cllrs Steve Williams, Nick Palmer and Maxine Gale. In the absence of Cllr Clark, Cllr Penny Marriott seconded the resolution set out in the Motion, which had been circulated in the agenda for the meeting.

70.2     The Leader explained that the Motion was a response to new provisions set out in the Elections Act 2022 which introduced new requirements for voter ID. Members of the administration had concerns about the need for voter ID, the justification for its introduction, the funding and implementation of the requirements, and the communication to residents about the need for ID and the acceptable forms of ID. These concerns were widely shared by councils and council leaders across the UK, and by the Local Government Association. The Leader had provided data on instances of local and national in-person electoral fraud, which showed a low number of allegations and even fewer prosecutions. The Elections Act 2022 did nothing to address the greater potential for fraud in relation to postal votes. 3.5m in the UK did not possess a form of phot ID and there were severe backlogs in the issue of passports and photo driving licences. There were no formal guidelines from the government on how the policy should be implemented and these could come too late to be effective. The list of acceptable voter ID was inconsistent and appeared to deliberately structurally disenfranchise young people or those who could not afford ID. The Motion called on the Council to take a number of steps to raise concerns about the Voter ID implementation plans with ministers and local MPs, and to communicate and engage locally to raise awareness of the need for voters to obtain suitable ID in good time for the May 2023 elections. The Leader hoped that these measures would find broad support from the Council.

70.3     Cllr Hyman spoke and highlighted the potential reputational damage to Waverley, as the local electoral administration authority, for any chaos developing at polling stations, and also the personal risk to elections staff working on polling stations. He was totally supportive of the motion.

70.4     Cllrs Mulliner and Cosser spoke and whilst they supported the principle of voter ID being introduced, they recognised that the timing of the implementation in relation to the May 2023 elections was poor, and communication about valid voter ID requirements had been inadequate. Both felt that there was probably more electoral fraud than was detected or reported, but recognised the practical issues about implementation for May 2023.

70.5     Cllrs Joan Heagin, Sally Dickson, Liz Townsend, Peter Martin, Jerome Davidson, Jacquie Keen, Penny Rivers, Steve Williams and Maxine Gale all spoke and were broadly in favour of the Motion although they expressed a range of views on the justification for introducing voter ID. In summing up, the Leader thanked councillors for their support.

70.6     The Mayor put the Motion to the Council and it was

RESOLVED that

Waverley Borough Council (‘the Council’) recognises the importance of ensuring that elections are fair and accessible for all voters, and notes:

·         that the council, as the relevant electoral authority, has a duty to comment on this area of national policy.

·         that the proposed voter ID elements of the Elections Act (2022) will result in major changes to national elections, including the introduction of compulsory photographic ID in order to vote.

·         that these changes are estimated to cost the taxpayer £180 million and will create unnecessary bureaucracy for local authorities.

·         with concern that currently 3.5 million people in the UK do not have any form of photographic ID, and that photographic ID is expensive.

·         that electoral fraud is (locally and nationally) extremely low and does not warrant such a disproportionate policy response.

·         that the Elections Act (2022) takes no account of postal vote fraud.

·         that the forms of acceptable ID are disproportionally weighted to over 60’s and there are fewer and more expensive forms of ID valid for young people.

·         in some cases, the young person’s version of an ID document has been disallowed, while the older person’s version of the same ID document is considered valid.

Waverley Borough Council believes that the proposed changes will act as a barrier to some residents from voting. This will disenfranchise residents and increase inequality of access to the electoral process. This is despite almost zero incidences of electoral fraud. The Council further believes that at a time when voter turnout is declining, we should be doing all we can to make it easier, not harder for people to vote.

Waverley Borough Council does not want to see residents being turned away at the ballot box because of these changes, and resolves to:

1.    Write to Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, expressing our concerns and highlighting the statistics on the low incidence of electoral fraud, calling specifically for a review of the permitted ID types, and seeking urgent clarification as to how any changes will be funded in the short, medium and long term and how these changes will be communicated to the electorate before May 2023.

2.    Write to the MPs covering the Waverley Borough Council area (Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP and Angela Richardson MP) requesting that these concerns are raised in parliament and that they indicate their views regarding the content of the bill.

3.    Communicate the views and evidence expressed in this motion and the supporting statistics on the low incidence of electoral fraud using council media and communication channels.

4.    Engage with local schools, colleges, and places of further education to raise awareness of the proposed changes and encourage the electorate to apply for suitable ID in a timely fashion.