Councillor Moore to move:

The Council notes:

The Elections Act received Royal Assent on the 28th of April 2022.

The Act is a major piece of national legislation with local implications for the residents of Reading, including the use of mandatory photographic voter ID at the polling station and changes to overseas voting and voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens.

In 2019, people born outside the UK made up an estimated 14% of the UK’s population. They live, work, study, and make use of public services in the UK, and call the UK their home. Many of our foreign-born residents from EU and Commonwealth countries can vote in our local elections. However, approximately over 1 million residents across England and Northern Ireland do not have a right to vote. In the Reading Borough Council area, approximately 38,000 people (according to the last census) were not born in the UK and therefore may not have the right to vote.

Scotland and Wales implemented residence-based voting rights where all residents with lawful immigration status have the right to vote in local and devolved national elections.

A poll conducted by Number Cruncher showed that 63% of people agree that all residents with lawful status in the UK should have the right to vote in local elections in England and Northern Ireland.

The Council welcomes:

That all our residents, no matter their nationality, call Reading their home and bring significant value to our area.

That the voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens with pre-settled and settled status who entered the UK before 2021 will be maintained.

That the London Assembly passed a motion in support of residence-based voting rights on the 11th of November 2021 and that various organisations in the democracy and immigration sector support the Our Home Our Vote campaign for residence-based voting rights.

The Council expresses concern that:

EU citizens who enter the UK from the 1st of January 2021 and are not covered by bilateral voting rights treaties (currently only active with Poland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Spain) will not have voting and candidacy rights in local elections when the Elections Act is fully implemented by May 2024. This will create an unequal situation where some EU citizens will have the right to vote where others will not.

The complexity in voting eligibility will cause confusion and will reduce voter turnout in local elections amongst migrant voters, a group already seen as having disproportionately a lower voter registration rate compared to British voters.

Local Authorities will be under-resourced to manage the removal of a significant number of EU citizens from the electoral register and this may result in some being wrongfully removed from the electoral register.

The Council commits to:

1. Ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities requesting that the franchise for local elections be extended in England and Northern Ireland to all qualifying foreign nationals in line with eligibility criteria in Scotland and Wales. This would ensure a UK-wide and fair approach so that all our residents who are also our council tax payers are enfranchised.
2. Work collaboratively with other local authorities and voluntary sector organisations in our local authority to develop a strategy of communications about voter eligibility following the Elections Act.
3. Ensure council officers have a strategy in place to ensure that the implementation of the Elections Act, including the removal of some EU citizens from the register, does not wrongfully remove eligible voters from the register.

Pursuant to Notice, a motion was moved by Councillor Moore and seconded by Councillor Terry and CARRIED.

Resolved –

The Council notes:

The Elections Act received Royal Assent on the 28th of April 2022.

The Act is a major piece of national legislation with local implications for the residents of Reading, including the use of mandatory photographic voter ID at the polling station and changes to overseas voting and voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens.

In 2019, people born outside the UK made up an estimated 14% of the UK’s population. They live, work, study, and make use of public services in the UK, and call the UK their home. Many of our foreign-born residents from EU and Commonwealth countries can vote in our local elections. However, approximately over 1 million residents across England and Northern Ireland do not have a right to vote. In the Reading Borough Council area, approximately 38,000 people (according to the last census) were not born in the UK and therefore may not have the right to vote.

Scotland and Wales implemented residence-based voting rights where all residents with lawful immigration status have the right to vote in local and devolved national elections.

A poll conducted by Number Cruncher showed that 63% of people agree that all residents with lawful status in the UK should have the right to vote in local elections in England and Northern Ireland.

The Council welcomes:

That all our residents, no matter their nationality, call Reading their home and bring significant value to our area.

That the voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens with pre-settled and settled status who entered the UK before 2021 will be maintained.

That the London Assembly passed a motion in support of residence-based voting rights on the 11th of November 2021 and that various organisations in the democracy and immigration sector support the Our Home Our Vote campaign for residence-based voting rights.

The Council expresses concern that:

EU citizens who enter the UK from the 1st of January 2021 and are not covered by bilateral voting rights treaties (currently only active with Poland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Spain) will not have voting and candidacy rights in local elections when the Elections Act is fully implemented by May 2024. This will create an unequal situation where some EU citizens will have the right to vote where others will not.

The complexity in voting eligibility will cause confusion and will reduce voter turnout in local elections amongst migrant voters, a group already seen as having disproportionately a lower voter registration rate compared to British voters.

Local Authorities will be under-resourced to manage the removal of a significant number of EU citizens from the electoral register and this may result in some being wrongfully removed from the electoral register.

The Council commits to:

A.            Ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities requesting that the franchise for local elections be extended in England and Northern Ireland to all qualifying foreign nationals in line with eligibility criteria in Scotland and Wales. This would ensure a UK-wide and fair approach so that all our residents who are also our council tax payers are enfranchised.

B.            Work collaboratively with other local authorities and voluntary sector organisations in our local authority to develop a strategy of communications about voter eligibility following the Elections Act.

C.            Ensure council officers have a strategy in place to ensure that the implementation of the Elections Act, including the removal of some EU citizens from the register, does not wrongfully remove eligible voters from the register.