Meet the new ERS CouncilAfter a well-contested election, the Electoral Reform Society have a new Council to govern the Society for the next two years. Nearly 850 members took part, with 50 candidates standing for the 12 seats available....Posted 22 Oct 2019
Scotland’s Citizens’ Assembly: What can it do to be a success?This piece is a guest post from Conor Black. Conor is a former student of the University of Glasgow who wrote his MRes dissertation on ‘Mini-Publics in the Deliberative System’. The first meeting of the...Posted 22 Oct 2019
Why our next General Election will be an unfair lotteryOver the past century, our society and democracy have been transformed almost beyond recognition. As voting habits have changed, one thing becoming increasingly clear: Westminster’s voting system of First Past the Post fails time and...Posted 21 Oct 2019
Dark ads and dodgy donors: How the Queen’s Speech missed a chance to protect our democracyThere was a conspicuous silence in the Queen’s Speech on Monday. Despite announcing a bill to protect ‘electoral integrity’ (by making it harder for us all to vote), there was inaction on updating Britain’s outdated...Posted 18 Oct 2019
In Wales, votes at 16 is one step closer to realityAs the Welsh Assembly takes a historic step towards extending voting to 16 and 17-year-olds in Wales, Daniel Priestley – Law Student at Cardiff University currently on placement with the Electoral Reform Society shares how the...Posted 17 Oct 2019
Voter ID checks threaten to suppress voter rights ‘on industrial scale’The Windrush scandal showed what can happen when millions of people who lack ID are shut out by Government. But the announcement in the Queen’s Speech proposing mandatory voter ID checks means there’s a risk of repeating those...Posted 15 Oct 2019
The movement for an overhaul of Britain’s broken constitution is growingOn Sunday, former Brexit Secretary David Davis wrote an important piece in the Times arguing that ‘Brexit is the writing on the wall for our democracy’. He points out that recent constitutional chaos has shown...Posted 10 Oct 2019
Campaigners are stepping up calls for a ‘Constitutional Convention’ on Britain’s democracyWhichever side of the Brexit debate people are on, one feeling is clear: voters feel disenfranchised and frustrated at Westminster’s chaotic handling of the Brexit process. One result of the suspension of Parliament in September...Posted 09 Oct 2019
There’s a glaring threat facing the next General Election: the ‘missing millions’You don’t have to opt in to your right to free speech. So why do we have to opt in to our right to vote? Voting is a basic right. While not enough on its...Posted 07 Oct 2019
A tale of two local by-elections: how STV produces fairer outcomesOn Thursday 3rd October, as on most Thursdays, several local authority by-elections took place throughout Britain. These by-elections occur when a vacancy arises due to a local councillor resigning or passing away. Two of Thursday’s...Posted 04 Oct 2019