Last month, Bite the Ballot and I presented a draft report to the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democratic Participation. The report pointed out, at a time when millions are missing from the electoral register, what can be done to bring about a more inclusive electoral register. The APPG has now published a final version of…Read more UK Parliamentarians endorse voter registration reforms
Why do poll workers volunteer?
Elections could not happen without the hundreds of thousands of people who give up their time to staff polling stations and ensure votes are issued, cast & counted. These poll workers are a crucial resource for electoral officials and many countries experience problems recruiting sufficient numbers of poll workers. Indeed, approximately 120,000 people are estimated to…Read more Why do poll workers volunteer?
New report: Getting the missing millions back on the electoral register
The number of people on the UK electoral register has been in long-term decline. It was estimated that up to 7.5 million people were not registered in 2014. At the end of the transition to individual electoral registration, there are another 1.4 million fewer names on the register. Dramatically, the number of attainers, our…Read more New report: Getting the missing millions back on the electoral register
Individual Electoral Registration Survey
I have recently sent out a survey to electoral officials in local government to try to assess the full effects of individual electoral registration in Britain. The questions posed are based on statements from interviews with electoral officials in 2011 about what they thought the effects would be. The aim is to see whether what was…Read more Individual Electoral Registration Survey
The Political Leaders books: in The Times Top 6 best politics books & a Cambridge Workshop
Our British Leaders books, published earlier in the year, made The Times Top 6 politics books of 2015, it was announced last weekend. I recently gave a talk which explained the method we used to assess political leaders at Churchill College, University of Cambridge. The video is below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h02ETZAkd74
Automatic re-registration in Britain?
We should have a system of automatic electoral registration in Britain to combat the crisis of millions of people missing off the electoral roll. That was one of our core messages last week when we sent a report on elections in Britain to the government. Most polling stations turned away would be voters at the…Read more Automatic re-registration in Britain?
The electoral register is the problem, not electoral fraud
Electoral fraud isn't the biggest problem at British polling stations..... it’s the electoral register Last week Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, claimed that electoral fraud is a 'growing phenomena' in British elections. It is a problem, he suggested, that was predominantly 'where there are high levels of inhabitants from a community in which there is a tradition…Read more The electoral register is the problem, not electoral fraud
How to improve electoral management
International IDEA and the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network have just published my case study on how to improve electoral management. The article from my research on the use of performance standards in the UK. It suggests that many electoral practitioners worldwide should consider using a similar scheme to improve the conduct of elections Both established and emerging…Read more How to improve electoral management
British Leaders Book Series launched at the House of Commons
Last week we launched a book series on British party leaders at the House of Commons, published with Biteback. John Bercow kindly hosted the event in his State Office. The three books, of which I co-edit two, all focus on the issue of how to assess party leaders. Jim Buller and I provide a chapter…Read more British Leaders Book Series launched at the House of Commons
Five tests for Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn was emphatically elected as the next leader of the Labour Party at the weekend. In a blog in the Huffington Post last week, I suggest that he, as with any Labour Leader, faces five key tests: 'Selecting a replacement for Ed Miliband has turned into an existential moment for the Labour Party, and…Read more Five tests for Jeremy Corbyn
Toby S. James 