This is the history for the submission "Motion by Councillor Alex Kerr:- "Council firmly believes that a strong democracy is the foundation stone on which the most prosperous and free societies that have existed throughout history have been built. Council further believes that ensuring the largest proportion of citizens possible are able to take part in the democratic process, known as "democratic well-being" is crucial to ensuring the long-term strength of any democratic system. Council understands the additional barriers that those from more deprived backgrounds face in engaging with the democratic process with the Fraser of Allander institute finding a significant gap in participation between individuals that considered themselves in good health and those that considered themselves in bad health. Council deplores the introduction of voter ID legislation by the UK Government which requires those taking part in Westminster elections to show photographic identification to vote in a polling station. Council notes the Electoral Commissions report into the May 2023 Local Elections in England which took place under the voter ID rules which found hundreds of thousands of people could be excluded from voting in a UK general election because of new rules. Council further notes the reports finding that this would have a disproportionate impact on poorer people, those with disabilities and from minority ethnic backgrounds. Council notes that the Scottish Government passed amendments to the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act at the Scottish Parliament following consultation to enable the possibility of similar automatic voter registration pilots being pursued at a local authority level with a view to widening participation at Scottish and Local levels. Council considers this would meet the aims of increasing democratic well-being by widening the pool of those eligible to vote and removing unnecessary barriers from participation in the democratic process to some of the most deprived communities. Council further believes the success of such pilots would highlight the benefits of taking an approach which opens up democracy, as opposed to inadvertently closing routes into participation through implementation of unnecessary voter ID legislation which creates barriers to participation. Council notes Glasgow City Council's success in the area of using data to increase participation - particularly with Glasgow's pilot canvass which was cited by the Electoral Commission as best practice with findings being used to inform UK wide changes to the canvass. Council believes that given this track-record of success that Glasgow City Council should volunteer as a lead pilot location for an automatic voter registration pilot with the Scottish Government. Council further notes the low turnout at recent by-elections and reflects that more visible methods to raise awareness of elections for citizens could have assisted in improving turnout. Council recognises that there has been a blanket ban on election advertising for some time but believes a partial repeal of this ban could be explored with the aim to increase democratic engagement. Council therefore requests that Officers put forward the Glasgow as a location for an automatic voter registration pilot with the Scottish Government; and agrees to bring a paper to the Wellbeing, Equalities, Communities, Culture and Engagement City Policy Committee within the next two cycles before summer recess 2025 to explore the possibility of this and report back on other ways including the use of data that the Council could use to increase democratic participation and wellbeing."".

It shows every meeting that the submission went before and links to the agenda for those meetings.