Reform UK has unveiled a sweeping package of proposed changes to Britain's election laws, including English-language checks at polling stations, severe restrictions on postal voting, the removal of voting rights from Commonwealth citizens and limits on campaign material published in foreign languages.
The proposals have been put forward by Reform policy chief and East Wiltshire MP Danny Kruger as amendments to the Representation of the People Bill currently going through Parliament.
Among the most controversial measures is a proposal that polling-station officials should be able to assess whether a voter can understand the voting process and the language being used.
Under the reported plan, where a presiding officer remains concerned about a voter's ability to understand the process or language, the ballot could be set aside rather than included in the count, subject to an appeal mechanism.
The proposals are Reform UK policy and proposed amendments, not current law, and there is no guarantee that Parliament will adopt them.
English-language checks at polling stations
The most striking element of Reform's package concerns language comprehension at the polling station.
Under the proposals reported on Friday, polling staff would be empowered to speak to voters where they had concerns about whether they understood the voting process or the relevant language.
The measure has been widely characterised as an attempt to prevent people who cannot sufficiently understand English from voting.
The precise distinction matters: Reform is not simply proposing a blanket nationality-based language test administered to every voter. Its proposal would instead give polling officials powers to assess comprehension in individual cases and potentially prevent a ballot from being counted where the required understanding was judged to be absent.
Critics are likely to question how such judgments could be applied consistently and whether polling-station staff should be responsible for determining a voter's linguistic competence.
Commonwealth voting rights would be removed
Reform also wants to abolish the historic voting rights enjoyed by qualifying Commonwealth citizens.
Under existing rules, qualifying Commonwealth citizens can vote in UK Parliamentary elections and certain other elections provided they meet the relevant residence and immigration-status requirements.
Kruger argues that voting in British elections should instead be reserved for British citizens.
He has said the principle would apply to Commonwealth citizens regardless of their country of origin, including citizens of countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand as well as India, Pakistan and Nigeria.
Reform argues that people temporarily resident in Britain should not have a role in choosing the country's political leadership merely because they are citizens of Commonwealth countries.
That is Reform's political argument rather than an independent finding that Commonwealth voting rights have compromised election results.
Postal voting would be dramatically restricted
The package would also make a major change to postal voting.
Reform wants postal votes restricted principally to members of the Armed Forces and people who are genuinely unable to attend a polling station in person, such as some elderly or disabled voters.
Kruger told Times Radio that people who are away on holiday when an election takes place would effectively have chosen to disenfranchise themselves.
He argued that voting in person should be the normal democratic practice and that postal voting should be an exception for people who are literally unable to attend.
The proposal would represent a substantial departure from the current system, under which voters can apply to vote by post without having to demonstrate that illness, disability or another physical impediment prevents them attending a polling station.
Election material restricted to British languages
Reform also proposes restricting election literature to languages native to the British Isles.
Kruger has said election material should be produced in English or Welsh, with Cornish also permissible where appropriate.
Under the proposal, issuing regulated election material in other languages would become unlawful.
Reform says the change would reinforce the idea of elections as a shared national democratic exercise conducted through a common language.
Opponents are likely to argue that translated campaign material can help British citizens whose first language is not English participate in democratic debate.
Crackdown on 'family voting'
The Election Integrity package also targets so-called family voting, in which relatives or other individuals accompany voters into polling booths or attempt to influence how they cast their ballot.
Existing electoral rules already protect the secrecy of the ballot. Electoral Commission guidance states that another person cannot accompany a voter into the polling booth except in limited circumstances involving assistance for a disabled voter or someone unable to read.
Reform nevertheless argues that stronger statutory enforcement is required.
The party's proposed amendments would reinforce the principle that no more than one person should enter a voting booth at a time, subject to legitimate assistance arrangements.
Reported proposals include potentially severe penalties for people who disregard the rules and attempt to advise relatives how to vote inside the polling station.
Reform points to Birmingham incidents
Reform has previously highlighted incidents reported during Birmingham's May 2026 local elections as evidence for its concerns about family voting.
Birmingham City Council acknowledged that polling-station staff had encountered attempts by groups of voters to enter booths together and that officials intervened.
Reform argued that the incidents demonstrated the need for tougher safeguards, while also raising concerns about the potential for coercion when postal votes are completed away from polling stations.
The existence of incidents involving attempted family voting does not by itself establish Reform's broader claims about the scale of electoral abuse nationally.
Kruger says immigration is changing British elections
Kruger has linked the proposed reforms to Reform's wider concerns about immigration, integration and national identity.
He argues that Britain's electoral system risks being undermined when large numbers of people without a permanent attachment to the country can participate in elections.
Reform has also raised concerns about foreign political disputes and sectarian interests influencing British electoral politics.
Those are political claims advanced by the party and should be distinguished from established evidence of electoral fraud or improper voting.
Reform wants amendments added to current legislation
The proposals are being advanced as amendments to the Representation of the People Bill currently before Parliament.
That means they are not currently part of Britain's election law and would require parliamentary approval before taking effect.
Reform has indicated that if its proposals are not adopted now, the party would seek to legislate for its own Election Integrity package if it entered government.
The parliamentary battle therefore provides Reform with an opportunity both to press for immediate changes and to establish a distinctive election-law platform for a future general election.
Critics accuse Reform of making voting harder
The proposals have already attracted criticism from political opponents.
Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Lisa Smart attacked the proposed postal-vote restrictions after Kruger's comments about holidaymakers, arguing that politicians should make democratic participation easier rather than harder.
Supporters of Reform's approach will argue that convenience should come second to ballot security, secrecy and confidence in the electoral system.
The debate is therefore likely to centre on a fundamental trade-off: how far Parliament should go in tightening election rules to protect integrity when those restrictions could also make it more difficult for some eligible voters to cast a ballot.
A sweeping challenge to the current voting system
Taken together, Reform's proposals would amount to a substantial restructuring of British election rules.
They would narrow eligibility by removing Commonwealth voting rights, dramatically reduce access to postal voting, regulate the languages used in campaign material and give polling officials new responsibilities concerning voters' understanding of the voting process.
Some elements address recognised concerns such as ballot secrecy and inappropriate influence inside polling stations. Others go considerably further than the safeguards contained in existing law.
For now, they remain proposals rather than enacted legislation.
But Reform has made clear that election integrity, citizenship and the rules governing who participates in British democracy are becoming central parts of its political programme.
Sources
- The Independent: Reform vows to stop voters who don't speak English
- Press Association / The Independent: Reform postal-voting proposals and Danny Kruger comments
- Reform UK: Birmingham elections marred by 'family voting'
- UK Parliament: Existing rules and Electoral Commission guidance on ballot secrecy and family voting