Up to eight million people are at risk of losing their right to vote at this year's general election due to a creaking "Victorian-era" registration system.
The stark warning from MPs today comes after the Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hinted Britain could finally head to the polls in October. But the report by the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee said under-pressure election officials may struggle to cope with increased demands.
New voter ID rules requiring people to show photo identification at the ballot box will also be used for the first time at a UK general election this year. Around 14,000 people were turned away from voting at the local elections in England last year - the first major test of the rules outside Northern Ireland.
Chairman and Labour MP Clive Betts said the new rules had been "tacked onto a Victorian era system" that was "creaking" and letting down voters.
The Daily Mirror launched our Get ID, Get a Vote campaign last year to raise awareness of the new rulesThe Daily Mirror launched our Get ID, Get a Vote campaign last year to raise awareness of the new rules and make sure everyone's voice is heard.
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The MPs' report said the elections watchdog had calculated that potentially as many as eight million people were not correctly registered at their current address. Giving evidence to MPs, the Electoral Commission said that, should a UK general election be called today, "around 14% of the eligible population would not be able to vote".
The Committee highlighted young people, renters, ethnic minorities, and people from poorer backgrounds are significantly less likely to be registered to vote. They are now calling on the Government to urgently review the system. MPs suggest that ministers move towards an opt-in automated voter registration system to ensure voters are not disenfranchised.
Committee chairman Clive Betts said: “Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and yet we are burdened by a system which is both ineffective and inefficient, where millions of people are disenfranchised because they are incorrectly registered or not on the electoral register.
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"In the year of a general election, this is a damning indictment of the UK’s electoral registration arrangements and a threat to the rights of British voters." He added: “Our voter registration system is creaking. Recent changes such as voter ID have been tacked onto a Victorian era system which is failing voters, political parties, and election officials.
"We need a major review of our election arrangements to boost voter registration and to ensure our elections are seen as credible and legitimate. It is a major and fundamental defect in our democratic system that many millions of UK citizens face being unable to make their voice heard at election time.”
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesman said: “We are committed to ensuring everyone can have their say in our democracy. Individual electoral registration has stopped fraud and ensured a more accurate register. The 2019 general election was contested on the largest ever electoral register.
“As recommended by the independent Electoral Commission, we have introduced identification for voting in person across Great Britain, mirroring long-standing arrangements in Northern Ireland. 99.75% of English voters in the polling station cast their vote successfully at local elections in May last year and councils will provide free identification certificates to anyone who asks.”
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