the uk's politically independent electoral commission had been pushing for such a reform for some time. in september 2010, mark harper, the government's minister for constitutional reform, announced the plan. a spokesman for the electoral reform society, an independent ngo, expressed some reservations: "you're potentially looking at registration rates in the 50% region. it will make some problems worse.". one recent study has also suggested that it will lead to a decline in electoral registration, unless other measures are put in place to offset these reductions.