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More than 20 groups that campaign for democratic reform or minority rights have urged Keir Starmer and Rushanara Ali, the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Democracy, to include automatic voter registration (AVR) in the forthcoming Elections Bill.
AVR is the automatic registration on the electoral roll of eligible citizens when they interact with public services such as the DWP, the Passport Office, or the DVLA.
The letter, signed by 23 groups including Unlock Democracy, Electoral Reform Society, Operation Black Vote, Generation Rent and Traveller Movement, argues that lowering the voting age to 16—a proposal that the Government is reportedly considering— “ will only be a success if 16 and 17 year olds are actually registered to vote”.

The pro-AVR groups state that “millions more could be enfranchised with no additional burden on individuals or extra cost”.
Their intervention comes as new estimates from NGO, Unlock Democracy, show that more than six million voters in England and Wales remain missing from the electoral register despite voter registration drives in the run up to the 2024 General Election.
According to the data, an average of 12.8% of eligible voters per constituency are not registered to vote. The figures are higher in big cities; nearly one fifth of voters in constituencies like Birmingham Ladywood and Brent East are not registered.
Recent research from the University of Manchester found that the UK is a “real outlier” among liberal democracies in terms of the difficulty of the voter registration process. Automatic voter registration systems are in place in Canada, Germany, Australia and Denmark.
A 2025 study from the University of East Anglia found that Finland has the highest quality system for electoral registration according to electoral integrity indexes. Its electoral register is compiled by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency using information from the Population Information System. This data is then displayed publicly and each voter is notified of their right to vote ahead of elections.
The signatories of the letter to Starmer and Ali argued “the Electoral Commission has highlighted the failings of our Victorian-era voter registration system that leaves more than 6 million eligible UK citizens not registered to vote. Worst affected are young people, private renters and ethnic minority voters. The system isn’t working for many people with disabilities either.”
At the last election there was a 19% turnout gap between homeowners and renters according to research from the Institute for Public Policy Research.
Before the 2024 election, The Guardian reported that Labour officials had drawn up plans to introduce automatic registration, although the policy was not included in the manifesto.
The letter follows new polling which shows that 60% of the public support AVR; 26% oppose it. The proposal has majority support among the backers of all major political parties, though it is lowest among supporters of the Conservative Party , 55%, and highest, among Greens, at 73%.
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Tom Brake, the director of Unlock Democracy, branded the UK’s system of voter registration “woefully inefficient and outdated, leaving millions of potential voices unheard”.
He added: “For a government committed to ‘encouraging participation in our democracy’, automatic voter registration should be a no-brainer.”
A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to strengthening the security of our democracy and making sure every legitimate voter can exercise their democratic right to vote. As set out in our manifesto, we want to improve voter registration and we are considering a wide range of options to deliver this.”