Proposals for people to be automatically registered to vote in Welsh elections as a way to increase turnout have been criticised by Welsh Conservative Shadow Constitution Minister Darren Millar MS.
He said:
“It is not clear why these changes are necessary. Registering to vote is already simple and millions of people in Wales manage to do so every year without any issue whatsoever
“One thing is certain, any changes to the voting system which apply only to some elections and not others will cause unnecessary confusion.
“Automatic registration for Senedd and local elections could lead to voters incorrectly assuming they are registered to vote in all elections and cause them to miss out on voting.
“Worse still, automatic enrolment of people who move home or students at university could increase the risk of people being registered in two places and voting twice.”
He added:
“The Welsh Government would do better to focus on getting to grips with the problems in our NHS and education systems instead of unnecessary constitutional tinkering.”