Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill: HL Bill 116 of 2024–25

Approximate read time: 10 minutes

The Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill is a House of Commons private member’s bill sponsored in the House of Lords by Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour). It is scheduled to have its second reading on 5 September 2025.

Currently voters can apply for absent votes for several elections online, but for some elections absent vote applications must be made on paper. Voters can apply online for absent votes for UK general elections, local elections in England, and police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales. Applications for absent votes for local elections in Scotland and Wales and elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd must be made using a paper form.

The bill seeks to bring the rules for applying online for absent voting (postal or proxy votes) in Scotland and Wales in line with the rules in England. It would allow regulations to be made so that voters in Scotland and Wales could apply online for absent voting for local council or devolved parliament elections. In addition, the bill would provide the Scottish and Welsh governments with powers to include an identity verification requirement on absent voting applications. It would also align postal voting renewal cycles.

The bill was introduced in the House of Commons by Tracy Gilbert (Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith) on 16 October 2024 and has cross-party support. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has produced explanatory notes for the bill. Only technical amendments were made to the bill during its passage through the House of Commons.

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