{"id":34,"date":"2017-05-25T13:24:56","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T12:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/electoralrs.wpengine.com\/campaigns\/improving-elections\/fair-boundaries\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T15:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T15:46:15","slug":"putting-voters-first","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/campaigns\/upgrading-our-democracy\/putting-voters-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting Voters First on Polling Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Voting <\/span>should <\/span>be <\/span>simple, <\/span>easy <\/span>and <\/span>accessible <\/span>for <\/span>everyone. <\/span>But <\/span>the <\/span>way <\/span>our <\/span>elections <\/span>are <\/span>organised <\/span>often <\/span>puts <\/span>unnecessary <\/span>barriers <\/span>in <\/span>people\u2019s <\/span>way. <\/span>From <\/span>how <\/span>constituency <\/span>boundaries <\/span>are <\/span>drawn, <\/span>to <\/span>where <\/span>polling <\/span>stations <\/span>are <\/span>located <\/span>and <\/span>when <\/span>people <\/span>are <\/span>able <\/span>to <\/span>cast <\/span>their <\/span>vote, <\/span>the <\/span>design <\/span>of <\/span>our <\/span>electoral <\/span>system <\/span>shapes <\/span>who <\/span>can <\/span>participate <\/span>and <\/span>whose <\/span>voices <\/span>are <\/span>heard.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Flexible voting for busy lives<\/h3>\n

Across <\/span>the <\/span>UK, <\/span>the <\/span>process <\/span>of <\/span>voting <\/span>still <\/span>relies <\/span>heavily <\/span>on <\/span>a <\/span>single <\/span>day <\/span>of <\/span>in-<\/span>person, mid-week voting<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>at <\/span>fixed <\/span>polling <\/span>places. If you miss your chance, you lose your vote. <\/span>Other <\/span>democracies <\/span>increasingly <\/span>offer <\/span>early <\/span>voting, <\/span>more <\/span>flexible <\/span>polling <\/span>locations, <\/span>and <\/span>systems <\/span>designed <\/span>around <\/span>the <\/span>realities <\/span>of <\/span>modern <\/span>life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Voting<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>should <\/span>be <\/span>built <\/span>around <\/span>voters. <\/span>That <\/span>means <\/span>fair <\/span>boundaries, <\/span>accessible <\/span>polling <\/span>stations, <\/span>and <\/span>modern <\/span>voting <\/span>options <\/span>that <\/span>make <\/span>it <\/span>easier <\/span>for <\/span>everyone <\/span>to <\/span>take <\/span>part. <\/span>Because <\/span>democracy <\/span>works <\/span>best <\/span>when <\/span>every <\/span>voter <\/span>can <\/span>participate <\/span>without <\/span>barriers.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Designing fair boundaries<\/h3>\n

Balancing equal constituency sizes with the need for boundaries to reflect where people actually live is a challenge. After all, we don\u2019t all live in neat towns of 74,769 electors.<\/p>\n

Yet under the new rules all constituencies need to be within 5% of a quota based on registered electors. The exceptions are Orkney and Shetland, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Two seats covering the Isle of Wight, and Ynys M\u00f4n. Boundaries that cut across several councils and geographical borders \u2013 including rivers and hills \u2013 don\u2019t make sense for local people and make it harder for politicians to do their job.<\/p>\n

Why are boundaries so important?<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n\t\"Constituency
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With only one winner per seat, where boundaries are drawn can have a big impact on who gets elected. See how the town council changes composition as the boundaries rotate around this example town. Animation based on the work of Geoff Powell and the PRSA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Boundaries are based on the electoral register, meaning that areas with lower registration rates will have less parliamentary representation. Yet we always see a surge in people registering to vote just before elections, so the boundaries become out of date just as they are used.<\/p>\n

Why not take unregistered eligible voters into account? Parliamentary boundaries should be based on eligible electors, rather than just the ones currently on the register.<\/p>\n

Representing real communities<\/h3>\n

Whilst it\u2019s important that constituencies are similar in size, a too-rigid system means constant boundary reviews and could mean regular changes to the seat you are in. Numbers are important, but it is also crucial to have a system that does not awkwardly split up towns or graft together different counties.<\/p>\n

What we propose:<\/h3>\n
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  • Allowing up to 10% difference in size between seats would help to minimise disruption for both citizens and elected representatives.<\/li>\n
  • Boundary reviews should be based on a more accurate and complete data source than the electoral register, to ensure all citizens are counted. We recommend using census population statistics, complemented by citizenship information provided by passport data.<\/li>\n
  • There should be tough safeguards on how Boundary Commissioners are appointed to prevent future political interference.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Polling day should be designed around voters, not the other way around<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":692,"parent":33,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/campaign.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-34","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/electoral-reform.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}