The UK heads to the polls for the 2024 elections soon. The rules have changed since the last general election with Voter ID introduced, more eligible overseas electors and the independence of Electoral Commission reduced.

What could a future (2029?) general election look like? A picture of utopian democracy? Or a dystopia of flawed electoral rules and misinformation. An AI generated version above gives one perception. But it has lots of typical-AI related flaws.

A better idea is to look at what are parties promising in their manifestos. Below is a table which I will populate as the manifestos are published.

ConLabLib DemGreenReform
Voter IDAllow Veteran IDs‘Address the inconsistencies’Scrapped[No mention]
Votes at 16NoYesYesYes
Prisoner votingMaintain ban[No mention][No mention][No mention]
Residence based voting[No mention][No mention]YesYes
Electoral systemCommitted to First Past the Post[No mention]STV‘A fair and
proportional voting system’
Second Chamber[No mention]‘A second chamber that is more representative of the regions and nations’‘Proper democratic mandate’Elected second chamber
Money in elections[No mention]‘Strengthening the rules around donations to political parties’‘Capping donations to political parties’[No mention]
Voter registration[No mention]‘Improve voter registration’Automatic voter registration[No mention]
Overseas voters[No mention][No mention]Separate constituencies[No mention]
Candidacy[No mention][No mention]All EU citizens with settled status[No mention]
Electoral Commission[No mention][No mention]Renew independence[No mention]
Misinformation[No mention]Strategic Defence
Review		Raise public awareness; global conventions[No mention]
Advertising[No mention][No mention]Real-time transparency[No mention]
TV debates[No mention][No mention]New Ofcom rules[No mention]
Constitutional protectionsPrioritise security over European Court of Human Right[No mention]Codified constitution[No mention]

It is worth noting that UK general elections are good – but not perfect. Data from the Electoral Integrity Project shows that the areas of weakness are in laws, finance voter registration.

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