The decisions made by our parliaments significantly impact the lives of all citizens, which is why, in a healthy democracy, voting should be easy and accessible for everyone. 

As people cast their votes in the Westminster General Election on July 4, hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland were effectively barred from having their say simply because they were not registered to vote.   

 According to the most recent statistics, Scotland’s electoral registers were only 81% complete for local elections and 83% for parliamentary elections. Whilst this number might still seem high on paper, according to the Electoral Commission, it equates to between 658,000 and 1,033,000 people missing from or inaccurately registered in local election registers.  

 Scotland is not alone in this, as according to the Electoral Commission, upwards of eight million people across the UK are missing from the electoral register.  The commission’s research also shows that certain groups of people are more likely to be unregistered than others. For instance, many of those missing millions are voters who don’t own their own homes. Only 45% of Scottish renters are registered, much lower than the British average of 65%.   

 Having millions of people missing from the electoral rolls and unable to vote continually exposes the flaws in our democracy. Rather than addressing this issue, recent UK Government measures introducing voter ID requirements have only added further barriers. By excluding millions from the electoral process, we weaken our democracy and place yet more obstacles before disenfranchised voters. 

This, combined with the issues experienced by many this year in accessing their postal vote in Scotland, paints a worrying picture. In a healthy democracy, voting should become easier and more accessible, not more difficult.  

 This is why Holyrood needs to seriously consider implementing Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) in Scotland, a move which would enfranchise those hundreds of thousands of missing voters at a stroke. AVR means that instead of people having to apply to register to vote themselves, public authorities would register them automatically. Local authorities and government bodies such as the Passport Office hold sufficient information to complete these registers for voters.   

 We wouldn’t be the first to introduce something like this either. The Welsh Senedd passed legislation earlier this year to introduce trials of AVR and Sweden has done so for many years. It takes one more thing off the to-do list for voters while enfranchising those missing from the electoral rolls.  

The case for AVR becomes even more compelling given public support for the move; according to YouGov 81% of people in the UK strongly or somewhat support AVR. Having hundreds of thousands of people not registered to vote in Scotland is an issue that should concern us all. This year’s General Election had the second lowest turnout in modern political history. That is worrying as participation is the lifeblood of our democracy and fewer people voting weakens it. That is why we need to take action to repair and strengthen our democracy by ensuring that come polling day every citizen has the opportunity to cast their vote.  

Ruth Maguire is MSP for Cunninghame South (Constituency) and  Deputy Convener of the Scottish Parliament's Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Agenda is a column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk