Individual Electoral Registration – changes voting registration

SailorSam

I'm listening to a phone-in on our local radio (Merseyside) and there's a caller talking about the new Electoral Roll. Apparently the new details are out today and despite the population of Liverpool increasing the numbers on the ER have fallen by 20,000.
Because each individual now has to register people living in the likes of student halls of residence; care homes; and hostels are not registering. The caller says one hostel with 35 people living there now has none on the register.
The Bbc presenter of the show suggested a cynic might think that the new rules brought in by a Tory Govt may favour the Tories, they may think more Labour supporters may not bother. For this the first year they said details have been carried forward from the previous Roll, but next year fewer people will be entitled to vote.

jamesd

Electoral_Commission wrote: »

One of our recommendations in our Fraud report is for ID to be introduced at polling stations. In our report we say that we are going to undertake detailed research this year and by the end of 2014, and we will publish our proposals. The proposals will include our position on the forms of ID that should be acceptable.

Is there any possibility that instead of making it trivial in these days of electronic records and rapid document scanning that we might not have a system that makes it trivial for a government to determine and track how every person in the country has voted and instead moves us in the direction of an actual secret ballot system with genuinely untraceable votes that government itself can't exploit for data mining about individuals?

Electoral_Commission wrote: »

It is a requirement of the election rules that the elector number is written against the number of the ballot papers issued to a particular elector on the corresponding number list (CNL). The CNL acts as a buffer between the Register of Electors, (which contains your personal details) and your ballot paper (which obviously contains information on how you voted) and all 3 would be required to ascertain how any individual voted. All 3 sources of information are sealed away separately and stored securely for a year after the election. If there was an allegation of electoral fraud the police would need to obtain a court order to unseal the documents and carry out an investigation.

For anyone who doesn't know their history, the UK government has in the past used these records to determine who voted for a particular political party. The most well-known occasion probably being to identify everyone who voted for the British Communist Party back in the days when its head was also a member of the UK security service, turning the whole party and our electoral system into a system for collecting information about individuals and their political beliefs.

While I do vote, it's not for minority parties and it is absolutely certain that if I wanted to vote for say Sinn Fein or the British National Party I would not do so but would instead feel pressured to use non-voting methods to express my views.

From the fraud report, "to ensure that voters can be confident that their vote is safe". I am confident that for many minority voters it is not safe, in the broader meaning, not the one intended in that report, to vote as they would wish. Simply, I assume based on past events that any person voting in a manner that might be considered to potentially upset the current system, whether that's membership of the UK or of the EU faces a real threat that their voting information will be obtained and used to potentially harm them, with the chance increasing as the number of potential voters decreases.

For examples of non-state harm, consider the consequences say twenty years ago or even today for an individual in a republican part of Northern Ireland who was identified as having voted for a unionist party. Mere suspicion in the past has been sufficient to lead to beatings or murder.

Because of the past abuse of our electoral system I favour measures such as more certain identification when voting that lead to a system where it's possible to eliminate any credible possibility of linking a voter to how they voted, whether that's through the explicit records kept or the use of technology such as automated scanning of ballot papers for fingerprints.

Because of the reduction in deniability potential - "I didn't really cast that vote, it was someone trying to cause trouble" - I would not favour increased identification at polling stations without greatly reduced ability to link a vote to a voter. If I held views in Northern Ireland that did not reflect those of a highly polarised community it is likely that the identification requirements there would further discourage me from voting, due to the personal safety risk.

There's more to safety than confidence in a a vote, there's a need for strong confidence that voting is safe, including for those who have views that are minority, either in their locale or nationally.

The closer we get to actual secret ballots the more I'll like it. I strongly prefer the use of the ballot box to the alternatives.

ellylond

If I register but 'opt out' of the public one, will my address details be available to whoever wants to know them (pay and see the full address)? I mean a website like 192 com for example which will give you details. I typed my name and my previous address is available if you register with the site and pay. What it says on the main page (before you pay) is:

'We have the full address available for (my name). This was sourced from Electoral Roll records from 2011-14.'

For personal reasons, I cannot allow for my address to be publicly available. Is there a guarantee that this will not happen?

Than you!

GingerBob_3

ellylond wrote: »

If I register but 'opt out' of the public one, will my address details be available to whoever wants to know them (pay and see the full address)? I mean a website like 192 com for example which will give you details. I typed my name and my previous address is available if you register with the site and pay. What it says on the main page (before you pay) is:

'We have the full address available for (my name). This was sourced from Electoral Roll records from 2011-14.'



Than you!

For personal reasons, I cannot allow for my address to be publicly available. Is there a guarantee that this will not happen?


It depends what you mean by "public". The CRAs have access to the full register and make your details widely available, but it falls short of being truly public.


Anyone can go to a library and look you up on the full register. I've heard that some organisations go to libraries and physically write up the entire register.


I think the likes of 192.com only have access to the edited register. Best advice; make sure you're not on the full version. Be careful with this, because I think - maybe someone could confirm - local councils have a default position that YOU ARE NOT on the edited register.

ellylond

Thank you for that. What I mean by public is whether anyone who wants to find my address can access it if they pay. My ex partner has a restraining order and does not know where I live and is not allowed contact. I just need to make sure that he won't be able to get it by logging onto some website, paying a few quid. That's my biggest worry.

Eco_Miser

192.com and similar sites only have access to the edited register - and to the full register from when that was the only one. If you've moved since they will still be showing your old address.

Anyone can access the full register in person in a library, but the register is arranged by house and street, not alphabetically by surnames, so finding a particular person if you don't have a good idea of where they live will be a long and boring process.

If you don't register at all you won't be able to vote, and will have difficulty getting credit or proving your identity.

Nick_C

ellylond wrote: »

My ex partner has a restraining order and does not know where I live and is not allowed contact. I just need to make sure that he won't be able to get it by logging onto some website, paying a few quid. That's my biggest worry.

It sounds as if you could be eligible for anonymous registration. Have a look at this guidance ...

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/87291/F6.pdf

and then contact your local council for specific advice.

Anonymous registration means you can vote but it would be impossible for anyone to find you on the full register. Not being on the full register may adversely affect your credit rating, but your personal safety is more important.

You can also get 192.com to remove your details. See http://www.192.com/help/tools-guides/about-your-details/

happyjuicer

Been advised to remove my name from Electoral Roll because I was abroad so missed voting can you be on the Roll if you are abroad

Nick_C

happyjuicer wrote: »

Been advised to remove my name from Electoral Roll because I was abroad so missed voting can you be on the Roll if you are abroad

https://www.yourvotematters.co.uk/can-i-vote/overseas

scrasie

hi i have tried speaking to mse and the credit reference agencies and no one seems to comeback with an answer. my address that all my bills are registered too, the one that was given to me by my landlord is completely different to the one on the electoral roll. i am hoping to apply for a mortgage but i dont want to move all my creditors to the electoral roll address as it may look like i have moved. can anyone help me out?

Thank you

Caroline