Ballot Secrecy Bill [HL]

The Ballot Secrecy Bill is a private member’s Bill that started in the House of Lords, sponsored by Lord Hayward. It completed its Lords stages on 30 November 2022.

Paul Bristow MP is the sponsor for the Bill in the House of Commons and it was given a second reading on 9 December 2022 without substantive debate. The Bill is scheduled for its remaining stages in the Commons on 24 March 2023.

The Bill has government support. Explanatory notes (PDF) to the Bill for its Commons stages were prepared by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

At second reading in the Lords the Labour Party supported the Bill and noted that the provisions should not prevent disabled voters getting assistance they need in polling stations.

What does the bill do?

The Bill aims to address the concerns of ‘family voting’ in polling stations. This is where a voter is accompanied by another person into or near polling booths with the intention of influencing their vote.

Electoral law already has provisions designed to safeguard voters from undue influence when casting their vote and the process of voting in secret has been in place since the Ballot Act 1872.

The Bill will introduce a specific new offence for individuals who accompany a voter to a polling booth or position themselves nearby with the intention of influencing a voter.

The offence will not apply to a companion of a disabled voter who has made the required written declaration to allow them to assist a disabled voter nor to a child of a voter accompanying them to the polling station.

The explanatory notes (PDF) to the Bill say this will “support presiding officers to challenge such behaviour in polling stations, and assist in the prosecution of cases where necessary”.

Which elections will it apply to?

The new offence will apply to voting in polling stations at UK parliamentary elections, Northern Ireland Assembly elections, England local elections and Northern Ireland local elections.

It will not apply to devolved elections for the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments nor to local elections in Scotland and Wales.

Why is it an issue?

In 2016, the Government published a report by Lord Pickles (then Sir Eric Pickles) Securing the ballot: review into electoral fraud. At the time he was the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion.

He highlighted the concern of family voting and recommended “Guidance and training should be strengthened to ensure that staff in polling stations enforce the rule that people go to the booth individually.”

The government supported the recommendation in its response to the report (PDF) and said it would work with the Electoral Commission to ensure that clearer guidance is provided for future polls

The Electoral Commission supported the proposal in its response (PDF) to the Pickles report and its guidance for polling station staff (PDF) for 2023 local elections in England clearly states:

Make sure voters go to polling booths individually so that their right to a secret vote is protected. No other person is allowed to accompany a voter to a polling booth unless a voter who is disabled or unable to read has requested assistance to vote

However, Democracy Volunteers, an impartial group that observes and reports on UK elections suggest family voting continues to be an issue. Its volunteer observers are accredited by the Electoral Commission. Democracy Volunteers report on the local elections in 2022 reported that volunteers witnessed family voting in a quarter of polling stations visited, “Our observers saw family voting across all parts of the UK, and it was not limited to any one ethnic group or another.”