MPs have a choice – to fight for voting rights or fight against them
In a democracy, it is vital that elections are both secure and open to all. Voters must trust the result and know that it has not been fraudulently obtained. Polls suggest that they do: public confidence in elections is the highest for a decade. There is room for improvement. Steps, recommended by civil society and academics, could be taken to make party finance more transparent, beef up the power of the regulator and expand the franchise. Yet with its election bill, the second reading of which begins on Tuesday, the government has ignored such advice. Its proposals will damage democracy and make it easier to buy influence.
The government proposes to make the Electoral Commission subservient to the Speaker’s committee, a parliamentary body on which the Tories have a majority, and have the minister for the constitution keep a hand on its tiller. This appears vindictive revenge on the commission because it dared to do its job. The Tories cannot forgive the regulator for investigating Vote Leave or Boris Johnson’s Downing Street flat refurbishment. Ministers want to rob the commission of the power to prosecute, knowing perhaps how reluctant police are to investigate political corruption. This will shield wrongdoing.
