Contribution
My Lords, I will concentrate on two issues: the importance of civic and democratic education, particularly for those who will acquire the franchise at the age of 16, and the ease of voter registration.
In his review, Philip Rycroft said:
“Many of those I have spoken to during this review have emphasised the importance of voter education as a way of diminishing the influence of mis and disinformation. The public must be allowed to make their own judgements about what they see online. However, there is a role for the state in supporting them to do this effectively”.
He further noted
“the government’s recent policy proposals on improving media literacy, as set out in the recent publication ‘Protecting What Matters’”,
and argued that they should be implemented “as soon as possible”.
Indeed, the Government have said that they will:
“Mandate that citizenship is taught in both primary and secondary schools to highlight the relevance of the democratic process and constitutional principles”.
It would be helpful to know what progress the Government have made in this regard.
Although the Bill has the potential to significantly improve the electoral system, the broader role of civic education and the ability to skilfully navigate social media and AI are fundamental if we are to realise the full potential of what is proposed in the Bill. If it is not done, we will get greater clamour for more regulations and codes and, if we want to avoid regulation creep, we need to embrace civic and media literacy education urgently to empower citizens.
The Government’s proposal to lower the voting age to 16, which will also bring consistency to the voting age for all statutory elections across the UK, is welcome. However, this raises two issues for me. First, there is the need to ensure that all those who are eligible to vote in elections should be able to do so freely and without barriers. The priority therefore should be to ensure that all newly enfranchised voters know how to register and exercise the right to vote. According to the Electoral Commission, voter registration rates of attainers—16 and 17 year-olds—have fallen steadily since the current system of individual electoral registration was introduced in 2014, and research from Manchester University shows that Britain has one of the most difficult voter registration processes among liberal democracies.
Automated voter registration is now the norm and has been proven to lead to more accurate and complete electoral registers. It is also cheaper, simpler for voters, and simpler for election administrators to use. So, will the Government commit to a timeline which sees automated voter registration introduced to support voters by the next general election?
The second issue is the need for access to education material through schools, colleges and communities to support the electoral community to deliver these franchise changes. The importance of equipping young people with the confidence to participate in elections, equipping them with skills and knowledge so they are not manipulated by fake news, misinformation and disinformation, is crucial.
Everything must be done to equip all young people with civic and democratic knowledge and the specific media skills required in the digital age. So, for the purposes of the Bill, we need a provision that requires the Electoral Commission to run education programmes for young people ahead of being eligible to vote, and training for educators in providing such information.
Finally, I am pleased that the Government have accepted all the recommendations of the Rycroft review. There is a powerful case, as we have heard, for cleaning up our funding system and, of course, restoring the integrity of our electoral system if we are to ensure that we do not become what I describe as a “poundocracy” instead of a democracy, where influence can be bought by large donations. The guiding principle should be that a diverse and transparent base is healthy for a robust democracy because it will ensure wider participation and give more people agency and a stake in society. It is important to regard that principle in terms of diverse funding as an urgent issue.