Skates backs idea for official trial of compulsory voting

Clwyd South MS Ken Skates (pictured) has urged the Welsh Government to explore further ways to "strengthen our democracy" by driving up the number of people who vote. 

Ahead of a debate on a civic duty to vote in the Senedd today (Wednesday) he backed comments by Plaid Cymru MS Adam Price and asked whether the Welsh Government would consider a trial into whether "compulsory participation" would increase engagement in elections. 

During First Minister’s Questions yesterday Mr Price said that 26 nations had introduced a civic duty to vote where the percentage of voting was consistently over 90%, adding: “If Wales could emulate that level of participation, it would transform our democracy.”

Mr Skates said: “Can I first of all thank Adam Price for the important question that he tabled and say that I agree with him entirely on the points that he raised in relation to the civic duty to vote.

“First Minister, I also welcome the great progress that Welsh Government is making in strengthening our democracy, particularly by giving 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote. 

"This is in stark contrast to what’s happening across the border, with the UK Tories making it more difficult for people to vote. Indeed, around 14,000 people were refused the right to vote at recent English local elections. That is surely wrong, and it’s down to new methods of proving your identity.”

Mr Skates said he believed that introducing a civic duty to vote "could lead to mass participation like we’ve never seen before" and asked whether the Welsh Government had considered a pilot scheme.

The First Minister said: “We are committed to reducing the democratic deficit in Wales by reforming electoral administration, widening access to elections and encouraging participation in our democracy. In my opinion, before introducing a formal civic duty, the people of Wales would need to support that change through the manifesto process.

“I thank Ken Skates for those further points. He’s absolutely right that the policy of this Government is to encourage participation rather than to embark on a policy of voter suppression.

“We’ve seen the results from the English local elections, where thousands of people who wished to vote were denied because of measures that I think Jacob Rees-Mogg described as a simple attempt at gerrymandering. Well, it always was that, and that was firmly exposed by the Minister who was responsible for those measures while he was in office.”

Mr Drakeford added: “There’ll be a further opportunity for Members to discuss it again at greater length tomorrow, and the idea of a trial or a pilot is something that I think is worth looking at. 

"If you were to have a change of this scale, you would want some local as well as international evidence to draw on, and I hope that that idea will be further developed in tomorrow afternoon’s debate.”