British election officials have called on the government to carry out a risk assessment of the country’s ability to hold a snap general election.
The Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) said it had “genuine concerns” about the expectation that elections would always be safely delivered regardless of the landscape, timing, funding or capacity of people delivering them.
“This view is becoming unrealistic,” it warned in a report, which highlighted “ongoing uncertainty surrounding electoral events”.
The administrators said they were concerned that an apparent lack of capacity and “the government’s unwillingness to allow officials to engage with the electoral community to make sensible contingency preparations will continue to introduce significant risk to the delivery of unscheduled polls”. The Electoral Landscape in 2019 report added: “For entirely understandable but clearly avoidable reasons, there appears to be a lack of technical knowledge and experience that we believe urgently needs addressing.” 
The experience of EU citizens in the UK and British nationals abroad who complained of being denied a vote in this year’s European parliamentary elections was also highlighted in the report, which said the late notification of the poll introduced significant pressures to already stretched electoral administrators.
It “strongly urged” the government to consider the way in which overseas electors cast their votes. The delivery of the elections was only achieved “because of the dedication, personal commitment and enormous sacrifices” made by electoral workers, the report said.
Peter Stanyon, the AEA chief executive, said: “These are unprecedented times in electoral administration, with yet another unscheduled nationwide poll being prepared for by stretched and often under-resourced teams.
“Electoral administrators always deliver but cracks are beginning to show. The need for urgent and positive action to support electoral delivery is more pressing than ever.” 
Cat Smith, the shadow minister for voter engagement, said: “This damning report highlights the wilful neglect of this government towards our electoral system. 
“It is widely accepted that our electoral laws are in desperate need of reform, yet the Tories have done nothing to address this. It was even the government’s refusal to innovate that led to the democratic disaster at European elections which saw thousands of electors denied their vote.
“We cannot allow the Tories to undermine our democratic processes, which is why we need a comprehensive review of our entire electoral framework as a matter of urgency.”