Electoral franchise

This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on the electoral franchise (eligibility to vote in elections). This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.

Standard Notes

Date	Description
22.01.2013	Voting age
	Under current legislation, a person must be 18 or over to vote. Section 17 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 reduced the age of candidacy to 18 from the age of 21 which had existed since the Parliamentary Elections Act 1695, but there was no provision for a reduction in the voting age.
22.11.2012	Prisoners' voting rights
	Prisoners serving a custodial sentence do not have the right to vote. Prisoners on remand are able to vote under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act 2000. This Standard Note provides a narrative of events following the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on 6 October 2005, the Hirst case, that the UK's current ban on all serving prisoners from voting contravenes Article 3 of Protocol No 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
22.11.2012	Prisoners' voting rights - in brief
	On 6 October 2005 the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Hirst case, found that the UK's current ban on all serving prisoners from voting contravenes Article 3 of Protocol No 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The issue of prisoner voting has become linked with the overall question of compliance with the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights. This note briefly draws together Library material on the issue and summarises Standard Note 1764, Prisoners' voting rights, which provides a narrative of events following the judgment.
06.11.2012	Overseas voters
	This Note gives details of the background to the provisions relating to overseas voters in the Representation of the People Act 1985 which was subsequently amended by the Representation of the People Act 1989 and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Information is also given about the procedure for registering to vote as an overseas elector and the means of voting, either by post or by proxy. There have been calls for the 15 year rule to be changed, most recently during consideration of the Electoral Registration and Administration Bill 2012-13 but the Government has indicated that it has no plans to alter the arrangements for overseas voters at the moment.
14.02.2012	Individual Electoral Registration
	This note gives a brief history of electoral registration and background to the issues surrounding individual registration, including the Government response to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee's report on 9 February 2012 in which it announced a number of changes to its initial proposals for introducing Individual Electoral Registration (IER).

Research Papers

Date	Description
01.03.2013	The History of the Parliamentary Franchise
	This paper gives a history of the Parliamentary franchise and shows the incremental stages which led to universal suffrage across the UK by drawing on several of the recognised sources which have dealt with the subject and by referring to the key legislation.

Select Committee Reports

Date	Description
08.02.2011	Voting by convicted prisoners: summary of evidence.
	Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee report [Commons]

Early Day Motions

Date	Description
07.11.2011	UK YOUTH PARLIAMENT CAMPAIGN 2011
	That this House notes the recent national poll of 65,000 young people leading to the debate and vote by Members of the UK Youth Parliament at their sitting in the House of Commons on ...
07.07.2011	REDUCING THE VOTING AGE TO 16 YEARS
	That this House believes that the voting age for elections to the House of Commons and any elected Second Chamber should be reduced to 16 years, following the example in Jersey, Guernsey, ...
14.12.2010	STUDENT VOTING
	That this House notes that a number of constituencies and council wards have large but transient student populations; further notes that these students are entitled to register to vote ...
22.11.2010	BLACK FRIDAY CENTENARY
	That this House recognises the centenary of the women's suffrage event of Black Friday, 18 November 1910; notes the tragedy of the day's outcome, and the reported brutality of the police ...
19.11.2010	EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS JUDGEMENT ON VOTING RIGHTS FOR PRISONERS
	That this House is concerned at the decision of the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the UK's decision to withdraw the right to vote from most convicted prisoners; notes ...

Lords Library Notes

Date	Description
07.06.2012	Members of the House of Lords: Voting at Parliamentary Elections
	This Library Note provides background information on the disqualification of Peers from voting at elections to the House of Commons.