Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance on cybersecurity and verification of identity in electronic elections his Department offers to organisations outside Government that are conducting such elections.

Cabinet Office has responsibilities for elections and cyber security. We do not have electronic voting in statutory elections in the UK, such as UK Parliamentary and local government elections, and the Government does not have plans to introduce this. However, since summer 2014 in England and Wales, and autumn 2014 in Scotland, applicants have been able to apply online to register to vote, atwww.gov.uk/register-to-vote. The most relevant Government guidance on the verification of identity is CESG’s (the information security arm of GCHQ) Good Practice Guide 45 “Identity proofing and verification of an individual”, which is available on GOV.UK.