Automatic voter registration is to be trialled in parts of Wales over the coming months.
On 14 January 2025, the Senedd agreed the regulations which enable Gwynedd, Newport and Powys to undertake pilot schemes.
The Welsh Government hopes that up to 400,000 more people could be registered to vote if, following the pilot, it is rolled out across Wales.
This article considers the background to these pilots and looks ahead to consider what happens next.
How does voter registration work now?
Since 2014, the Individual Electoral Registration (IER) system has been in place for UK voters. Under this system, voters must register to vote themselves. Local authorities must then contact households to check whether the existing electoral register is accurate, identify new voters, and invite residents to apply to be on the register. This replaced the old household registration system, where the ‘head of household’ submitted the registration on behalf of all residents at an address.
The Senedd has the power to change the registration system for Senedd and local government elections, but not UK Parliament or Police and Crime Commissioner elections.
In a 2017 consultation on local government electoral reform, the Welsh Government stated that the IER system had “led to a fall in the numbers registered”, particularly among groups such as students or other mobile populations. It suggested that there “could be merit in moving far closer towards a system of automatic registration”.
We looked at the Welsh Government’s consideration of automatic voter registration in more detail in our earlier article.
What is automatic voter registration and how would it work?
Automatic voter registration (also known as registration without application) would mean that voters no longer have to register themselves to be eligible to vote.
The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Act 2024 contains provision relating to automatic voter registration and contained powers to enable pilots to take place.
If the sections came into force they would require Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to use data matching to identify potential eligible electors.
EROs would have to notify electors before adding them to the register. The person would then have 60 days to respond (such as to opt out or request anonymous registration) before they would be automatically added to the register.
Before commencing these sections, the Welsh Government is undertaking pilot schemes. The pilots will use “existing local data to identify and verify potential electors”. If these pilots are successful, automatic voter registration could be rolled out across Wales.
What do stakeholders think?
The Local Government and Housing Committee led the scrutiny of the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill.
The Committee noted that the evidence presented to it overwhelmingly supported the principle of introducing automatic voter registration as a means of increasing the number of registered eligible voters, but stated that it should only be implemented “if the safety of vulnerable electors is guaranteed”.
The Committee heard from the Electoral Commission, who supported “some form of automatic registration” to help address the issue of “400,000 people in Wales who are either not correctly registered or have inaccuracies in their local government register entries”.
Organisations such as RNIB Cymru and Disability Wales spoke of the importance of communicating changes proactively and in accessible ways.
Women’s Equality Network Wales emphasised the need to allow anonymous registration, and voiced concerns about the time limit for responding to a registration notice. This timeframe was increased from 45 to 60 days as the Bill progressed through the Senedd.
The Committee made several recommendations, with a number relating directly to the pilots. For example, the Committee recommended that the areas chosen for pilots “should include, but not be restricted to, a mix of urban and rural areas, affluent and less affluent areas and areas where there are high proportions of non-first language English or Welsh speakers”.
It also recommended the Welsh Government commits to ensuring that organisations representing vulnerable groups are involved in planning the pilots.
Automatic Voter Registration Pilots
In January 2025, the Senedd approved regulations to establish pilot schemes in Gwynedd, Newport and Powys between January and September 2025.
The Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant MS, confirmed that Carmarthenshire will also be taking part in the pilot, but as it will not be adding people to the register, it is not included in the regulations. At present there is no further detail on what this means in practice.
The Cabinet Secretary told the Senedd that the pilots will help develop understanding of how automatic voter registration impacts “hard-to-reach groups, vulnerable voters and particularly those with grounds to register anonymously”.
She added that Welsh Government officials have held workshops with organisations representing vulnerable groups to outline the pilots and to discuss the safeguards they contain and are keen to meet any other groups interested in this work.
Could the rest of the UK follow Wales’ lead?
One concern that arose during scrutiny of the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill was potential confusion around different registration systems for UK and Welsh elections. This is because the Senedd can only change the law on electoral registration for Senedd and local government elections.
Effective awareness-raising campaigns will be important in addressing potential confusion. But could the rest of the UK follow Wales’ lead?
The Scottish Parliament recently passed the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill. The Bill contains provision which allows funding to introduce automatic voter registration at educational establishments.
UK Labour’s general election manifesto committed to “improve voter registration”, with some media reports suggesting it was considering introducing automatic voter registration for UK elections. However, since coming into office, the new UK Government has not committed to introducing automatic voter registration.
When could it be rolled out across Wales?
The pilots must take place before 30 September 2025.
The Electoral Commission must then produce a report on the pilots before 1 January 2026. This report must include an assessment of whether the scheme should be extended across Wales on a permanent basis.
It will then be up to the Welsh Government to decide whether to bring forward further legislation to roll this out across Wales.
Article by Adam Cooke, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
