The electoral watchdog has received more than 1,000 complaints from members of the public and 38 letters from MPs about people illegally voting twice at the general election on June 8th 2017.
Some people, such as students, are legally allowed to be registered at two addresses. However, it is illegal to vote twice. The electoral commission is now investigating whether widespread duplicate voting by students did indeed take place.
There were 2.9 million new registrations when Theresa May announced the snap elections on 18th April 2017. 96% applied online and 69% of those were aged under 34.
The watchdog is currently working on the complaints with the police. The complaints have resulted in the Government to search for ways to reduce the risk of voting rules being abused in the future. Urgent action is to be enforced if it turns out that there were duplicate votes.
The Electoral Commission demanded ministers to look at introducing a new system that allows voters to check if they’re already registered. Applications from those who were already registered were between an estimated 30% to 70%. Information from members of the public are held locally. Therefore, duplicate applications are not detected automatically.
Electoral Commission chairman Sir John Holmes released a statement: "The size of the registered electorate for the general election demonstrates the UK’s strong tradition of democratic engagement, and reflects the hard work of all concerned.’
‘However, if we are to keep pace with modern habits and practice in a digital world, the electoral registration system must continue to evolve, and consider innovative solutions such as direct or automatic enrollment processes.
‘These have the potential to deliver significant improvements to the accuracy and completeness of electoral registers as well as efficiencies for local authorities and the public purse.’
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.