Bradford MP Judith Cummins pushes for automatic voter registration

Judith Cummins told the Commons the current system of electoral registration was “complicated, fragmented and crucially incomplete”.

The Bradford South MP said: “This Bill has a very simple aim to ensure that everyone who is entitled to vote in this country is able to do so.

“It does that by moving away from the current system of electoral registration, one that is complicated, fragmented and crucially incomplete, to a new system where individuals are automatically added to the register using the data the Government already holds.”

Such a system, she said, worked in many countries around the world.

She said: “We cannot know what the crisis of the future will be, but we can prepare by building a robust registration system that is fit for the 21st century.

“Individual electoral registration is failing and it is time to seriously consider the alternatives.

“I believe my Bill improves the resilience and reliability of the electoral system as well as making it fairer and ensuring that every single person eligible to vote is able to do so.

“Automatic electoral registration is common sense and current circumstances have shown that it is long overdue.”

Ms Cummins’s Automatic Electoral Registration Bill would impose certain duties upon the Government to ensure the accuracy, completeness and utility of electoral registers and make provision for the sharing of data for the purposes of electoral registration.

It was listed for a second reading on Friday October 30, but is unlikely to become law due to a lack of parliamentary time.