Let us vote! Allow unions to ballot members online
The predictable response from some politicians to recent strike action has been to call for more restrictions on strikes, imposing minimum thresholds for ballots when union members are choosing whether or not to take action.
But this all misses the point, in that the system as it stands is actually stopping many members from being able to vote. Whilst other UK voting systems have moved on, union ballots are still stuck in the past as they are regulated by the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations Act rather than by more recent legislation. We need to update the rules to let people vote on digital devices.
The votes would still be secure, and organised by independent scrutineers rather than the unions themselves, but allowing members to use phones and computers to engage rather than the post would raise turnouts, giving more members a clear say in the union and any future strike ballots.