Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill

Baroness Smith of Llanfaes Excerpts

Friday 5th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (PC)]

My Lords, as introduced by the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, this Bill has a simple yet important aim: to make it easier for voters in Wales and Scotland to apply for postal and proxy voting. It achieves this by giving the Welsh and Scottish Governments the necessary powers to bring forward regulations for devolved elections. In my brief remarks today, I will focus on Wales.

The use of postal voting in Wales has continued to rise. At the 2021 Senedd election, over 458,000 postal votes were issued—an increase of 16% since 2016. This demonstrates a clear and growing demand for greater flexibility in how people vote. Yet significant challenges remain. In 2023, the Electoral Commission found that nearly 400,000 people in Wales were either incorrectly registered or missing entirely from the electoral register. This appears to be a consequence of an outdated system that disadvantages certain groups, particularly young people, private renters and those who have recently moved. This is especially concerning in Wales, where the franchise has rightly been extended to include 16 and 17 year-olds in Senedd and local elections. The ability to register online for absent voting could alleviate some of this, and that is why I support this Bill. However, I believe we should go further.

In May 2022, 16 and 17 year-olds were able to vote in local elections in Wales for the first time, yet around only one in five registered and turnout among the under-35s was the lowest of all age groups. I return to a point I have raised with the Minister before. As this Government plan to introduce votes at 16 in England too, why not introduce a national voter registration day to mark this important alignment across all parts of the UK? This could be targeted at young people, perhaps during registration class in schools and colleges. If registering to vote takes less than five minutes, why not take five minutes in school to do just that? Previously, the Minister kindly said he would look into this, so I would be grateful to hear if he has given it further thought.

Of course, this must be part of a wider improvement to citizenship education, so that younger people understand not just how to vote but why their vote matters, how to identify misinformation and how to hold decision-makers to account. I certainly enjoy playing my part in this through the Learn with the Lords programme, and we all have a duty to encourage participation in our democracy.

Taking this further, Wales is already trialling automatic voter registration. The pilot scheme is currently underway in Gwynedd, Newport and Powys, testing how automatic voter registration could help reach vulnerable and underregistered groups, including those needing to register anonymously. Scotland has moved in this direction as part of a recent Bill which includes provision to fund the introduction of automatic voter registration at schools, colleges and universities. The UK Labour’s general election manifesto included a commitment to improve voter registration. Will the Minister outline the Government’s current position on automatic voter registration?

To conclude, this Bill represents a simple and positive step towards improving access to democracy in our devolved nations by removing the unnecessary hurdles and enabling Governments to modernise voting procedures. I support this Bill and hope the House will do the same.