What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the means of increasing awareness of qualifying foreign citizens of their right to vote in Assembly Elections and local government elections and ensure that they are able to implement those rights?
The Welsh Government is working closely with the electoral community, local authorities and other key partners to ensure their readiness for the changes to the franchise for the 2020 canvass. Along with the changes brought about by the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill there is a substantial amount of electoral reform underway. This suite of reforms includes changes to the canvassing process which will allow a more streamlined process to be put in place which is based on the use of local data (held by the local authority). This will assist administrators in identifying people newly eligible to vote, and ensuring they are making the appropriate application to register. The Welsh Government is also working closely with the UK Government to ensure the Digital Registration Service is updated to allow qualifying foreign citizens to register online, and further work with Electoral Management Software suppliers is ongoing to ensure the systems are updated to accept the new electorate.
We are also currently working on a range of activities to support the broad democratic renewal agenda. We have recently commissioned research to understand how best to inform newly enfranchised groups (including foreign citizens) of their rights; and to gather their views on democratic participation and engagement. We will be using the evidence generated by this research to inform both educational and engagement work moving forward with all newly enfranchised voters.