Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill

Lord Murphy of Torfaen Excerpts

Friday 5th September 2025 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Murphy of Torfaen]

That the Bill be now read a second time.

[Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Lab)]

My Lords, in England, if you vote at any election, whether it is for Parliament, a local authority, a mayor or a police commissioner, you can apply for a postal or proxy vote online. In Wales and Scotland, you can vote having applied online only for parliamentary or, in Wales, for police commissioner, elections; there is no facility for applying online for a postal vote or a proxy vote for elections to the Scottish Parliament or the Welsh Senedd or to local authorities in Scotland and Wales. What happened was that, when the Elections Act 2022 was going through its stages in both Houses, neither the Welsh Senedd nor the Scottish Parliament gave legislative approval for that Bill, for various reasons that your Lordships will probably recall. The consequence was that the ability of Welsh and Scottish electors to apply online for postal votes was not passed. This Bill will ensure that that anomaly is overcome—and it is absolutely vital, because it is very important that people in this digital age can apply for votes online.

Bizarrely, some 10 or so years ago, the then Prime Minister decided to make me the Minister for Digital Inclusion. It was a particularly odd appointment, alongside my being Welsh Secretary. But it was very interesting, and I discovered and learned a lot—how in those days 17 million people were not online. In this digital age, being able to apply online for a postal or proxy vote has become infinitely more important, to such an extent that in the last general election, of 2024, 84% of those who applied for postal votes in Great Britain did so online, as did 93% of those who applied for proxy votes.

The provision for online voting is made by the United Kingdom digital service, run by the United Kingdom Government, which is why we are debating this issue here in this Chamber and why it is not being debated initially in the Chambers of the Welsh Senedd or Scottish Parliament.

The Bill is supported by all the parties, and it is obviously supported by the United Kingdom Government. It has the backing of the Electoral Commission and, most significantly, it is supported by the Welsh and Scottish Governments. The Bill was sponsored in the other place by my honourable friend Tracy Gilbert, the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh North and Leith. It passed its Third Reading on 4 July 2025.

The Bill has three main provisions. First, the Scottish and Welsh Governments can bring forward regulations to enable electors to apply for postal and proxy votes online, using the United Kingdom digital service, which is a reserved issue. Powers would be given to Scotland and Wales to make secondary legislation to include an identity verification recommendation, which would be the national insurance number—or, if that cannot be used, alternative evidence. It will align postal voting cycles; electors will have to reapply for postal or proxy votes every three years, with renewals for devolved elections matching the reserved elections.

That is the basis of the Bill in front of us this morning. I shall briefly go through each clause—it is a very short Bill, as noble Lords can see. Clause 1 will enable regulations to be made that would allow electors in Scotland and Wales to make and submit applications online for absent voter arrangements for local elections using the UK digital service. Therefore, if you were voting for a Scottish or a Welsh council, this clause allows you to apply for postal votes online. To support this integration of absent voting applications for Scottish and Welsh local government elections into the UK digital service, it enables regulations to be made that will apply the same identity checking requirements used in reserved absent voting applications to devolved voting applications. Noble Lords will have heard me say that it is the national insurance number that will be the usual identification there. Clause 1 will also enable a route for any elector who is unable, for whatever reason, to provide a national insurance number to submit documentary evidence to confirm their identity.

The clause amends the time for which postal voting arrangements for local elections remain valid in Scotland and Wales. Postal voting arrangements are currently potentially indefinite, with a signature refresh requirement of five years for local and devolved parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales. This will now align it with the rest of the United Kingdom, so it will be set at a maximum of three years before the elector has to reapply. This is important for electors, obviously, who would find it confusing and inconvenient to have different postal voting arrangements lengths for different types of elections.

Amendments were made in Committee in the Commons to Clause 1 to enable Ministers of the Scottish and Welsh Governments to make transitional provisions for proxy voting arrangements for devolved local government elections.

Clause 2 enables regulations to be made to allow people to apply online for a postal or proxy vote for the elections to the Scottish Parliament. As the digital service is reserved to the United Kingdom, those provisions also ensure that Scottish Ministers may not make regulations under this clause without the agreement of a Minister of the Crown, where those provisions relate to the UK digital service. I understand that there have been extensive discussions between the Governments of Scotland, Wales and the United Kingdom on this aspect—I cannot see any difficulty on this in times ahead. Clause 3 does the same for the Welsh Senedd.

Clause 4 will provide for commencement and inserts a power to make a transitional or saving provision. That power allows provision to be made to align the expiry dates of postal voting arrangements of a person where they already hold a postal vote for both UK parliamentary and devolved elections and provides for the ending of existing postal voting entitlements for devolved elections. In some very limited cases, it may be necessary to end existing postal vote arrangements for devolved elections. Finally, Clause 5 refers to the territorial extent and name of the Bill.

When this Bill receives Royal Assent, it will then go to Edinburgh and Cardiff so that the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd Cymru can pass their own regulations. There are ongoing discussions with the devolved Governments about the timeframe for those changes. It is my sincere and earnest hope that, in Scotland and Wales in May next year, people will be able to apply online for postal and proxy votes for the hugely important elections in those two countries. I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Lab)]

My Lords, it has been a short but very interesting debate, and I am grateful for the unanimous support across all Benches for this short but important Bill.

If one theme has come through, it is the theme of speed and the necessity for the Bill to go through Parliament, this House and any other stages it might have to elsewhere, but also for the Welsh and the Scottish Governments to pull out all the stops to ensure that next year, people will be able to apply for postal and proxy votes online for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd elections.

Like all of us here, I am unable to vote for Members of the House of Commons. That means that the only postal vote I can apply for is for the police commissioner for Gwent. I hope that next year I will be in a position to apply for a postal vote for the Welsh Senedd, but I rather fancy I will be walking to Llantarnam church hall. I beg to move.

Bill read a second time and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.