Election Integrity Bill

Overview

The document is a party bill and accompanying briefing from Reform UK that proposes a package of amendments to existing electoral law, presented as changes to the Representation of the People Act 1983, PPERA 2000 and the Elections Act 2022. It frames the proposals as a response to perceived threats from non‑citizen voting, family‑based coercion, widespread use of postal voting, and campaigning in languages other than those described as native to the British Isles. In practice the changes would remove the automatic right to vote at parliamentary elections and at local government elections in England and Wales for Commonwealth citizens who are not British citizens, confine printed election material to English, Welsh, languages the Secretary of State defines as native to the British Isles or accessible formats, and restrict postal voting to serving members of the armed forces and people judged unable to vote in person. The document also seeks to give presiding officers powers to require voters who arrive together to vote separately and to set aside ballots where there are concerns about a voter’s understanding or language. The proposals are far reaching in scope because they affect the composition of the electorate, the permitted forms of campaign communication, and procedures at polling stations. Some measures use statutory language that would create criminal offences, including summary convictions carrying up to six months’ imprisonment for publication of election material in non‑approved languages. Several operational decisions would be delegated to the Secretary of State through regulations, notably the list of languages considered native to the British Isles, and to presiding officers at the point of vote, which means much of the detail would be determined after primary legislation.

Key commitments

• Remove the right of Commonwealth citizens who are not British citizens to vote in parliamentary and local government elections in England and Wales, which would exclude those non‑British Commonwealth residents from registering and voting in those contests. This new clause would remove the right of Commonwealth citizens who are not British citizens to vote in parliamentary elections and in local government elections in England and Wales. (page 6)
• Require printed election publications to be in English, Welsh, a language the Secretary of State specifies as native to the British Isles, or accessible communication formats, with breaches criminalised. A person shall not print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any bill, placard, poster or printed document to which section 110(1) of this Act applies unless the material is in English, Welsh, a language native to the British Isles or accessible communication formats. (page 7)
• Create a criminal penalty on summary conviction for publishing election material in non‑approved languages, with a sanction in England and Wales of up to six months’ imprisonment, a fine, or both. A person who commits an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction— in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, to a fine or to both; (page 7)
• Limit postal voting at parliamentary and local government elections so only serving members of the armed forces and people unable to vote in person are entitled to vote by post, with the Secretary of State empowered to prescribe required evidence. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no person is entitled to vote by post at a parliamentary or local government election unless the person is a serving member of the armed forces of the Crown or unable to vote in person. (page 8)
• Give presiding officers authority to require voters who arrive together to vote separately and to set aside ballots where there are concerns about a voter's ability to understand the voting process or language, which alters on‑the‑day polling procedures. Presiding officers should be allowed to enforce rules to prevent this behaviour, requiring voters to vote separately. In addition, they must be able to set aside votes from voters where there are concerns about their ability to understand the voting process or language. (page 5)
• Delegate to the Secretary of State the power to define which languages are 'native to the British Isles' by regulations, subject to the affirmative resolution procedure, concentrating the choice of permitted languages in ministerial hands. "language native to the British Isles" means a language specified by the Secretary of State in regulations. (page 7)
• State a political pledge that if the proposed amendments are not accepted in Parliament, Reform UK will introduce equivalent primary legislation when in government. If our changes are not accepted, when in government we will bring forward our own Bill to secure British democracy. (page 5)

What it would cost

The document includes no financial costings or budgetary estimates for implementing the proposals. It does not set out the administrative costs of changing registration records, the expense of defending or prosecuting criminal offences it creates, nor the cost to local returning officers of enforcing new polling‑station procedures. The Secretary of State is given powers to make regulations, but the bill contains no financial memorandum describing the cost of drafting, consulting on and operating those regulations. There are therefore no figures for transitional work to remove affected Commonwealth citizens from registers, for communication to voters about changed entitlements, or for additional training and staffing for presiding officers. The paper also does not identify a funding source, departmental lead for resourcing, or whether costs would be met centrally, by local authorities, or by the Ministry of Justice or Home Office. In short, the financial implications are uncosted, leaving unanswered who would pay for implementation and how much it would cost.

How it would be delivered

The primary mechanism for change in the document is amendment of existing Acts: the Representation of the People Act 1983, PPERA 2000 and the Elections Act 2022. If passed, primary legislation would effect the statutory changes. The Secretary of State is named as the authority to make regulations, including prescribing required evidence for postal voting entitlements and specifying which languages are native to the British Isles; those regulations are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure in Parliament. Presiding officers at polling stations are the front‑line officials identified to enforce separate voting and to set aside ballots where concerns arise. Criminal offences created by the clauses are for summary conviction, and the courts identified in the bill for judicial matters include magistrates’ courts and, in Scotland, the sheriff court. The document also states Reform UK would introduce its own Bill when in government if its amendments are not accepted. What is not set out is a timetable for enactment beyond the normal parliamentary process, nor are operational guidance, central delivery teams, or local authority roles and responsibilities described in the bill text provided.

What isn't specified

The document leaves multiple practical and legal details unspecified. It does not list which specific languages will be treated as native to the British Isles; that list is deferred to regulations by the Secretary of State. The bill does not define the evidential threshold or process for determining who is 'unable to vote in person', nor the form of declaration or evidence the Secretary of State may require. It does not set out transitional arrangements for people already registered to vote as Commonwealth electors, or how and when their entries on electoral registers would be changed. The impact on devolved elections is not clearly addressed; the removal clause refers to parliamentary and local government elections in England and Wales but the bill does not specify effects on Scottish Parliament, Welsh Parliament or Northern Ireland arrangements. Enforcement resource requirements, training for presiding officers making language or capacity judgments, and procedures for handling ballots set aside are not described. The document also does not estimate legal risks or the administrative cost of contested appeals and prosecutions.

Language and firmness

The bill mixes commanding statutory language with conditional political phrasing. Provisions use mandatory words such as 'A person shall not print or publish' and 'A person who commits an offence ... is liable on summary conviction', which impose clear legal obligations. By contrast, explanatory text and the party’s pledge use softer or political formulations such as 'This new clause would remove...' and 'If our changes are not accepted, when in government we will bring forward our own Bill'. The Secretary of State’s powers are framed permissively with 'may by regulations prescribe', indicating delegated discretion. Examples: 'A person shall not print or publish...' (page 7), 'This new clause would remove the right...' (page 6), and 'The Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe...' (page 8).