Individual Electoral Registration – changes voting registration

Eco_Miser

Nick_C wrote: »

No one is saying you will have to produce a passport or driving license to vote. If you don't have appropriate photo ID, you will be able to apply to your local council for ID that you can use on election day when going to vote.

That's good to hear, because your previous post certainly looked as though you were saying you thought it appropriate to require a passport or driving license.

I wonder if they'll accept the bus pass that they issued? [They = the council]

emmb

General_Grant wrote: »

As I understand it, you can register at more than one property but cannot vote using more than one registration in the same election.

If you are not going to return as an occupant of the property which had been your home for 12 years then don't register there.

Do you think you will be moving to a different local authority or parliamentary constituency?

Hi General Grant
Thanks for the response. I thought registering did actually put you on the electoral register so not sure how that could be at both properties.
I certainly never answered the paperwork for the one I am living in temporarily as all my important documents have been left at 'home' until I am in a more permanent situation. Having said that, I might end up here for a couple more months or a couple of years. Am I committing fraud if stating staying at my own home?

I think the company I rent from must have been asked who is living in the property as I suddenly started getting paperwork with my name on it..and voting card..and for this reason did not return the last form for my home. Splitting stuff between the two just seemed so complicated which iis why I had intended leaving everything at home.
It's starting to all become a mess.

Do you know who I could ask officially, other than the citizens advice bureau as I've used them twice before and never actually answered the question and the difficulty in seeing anyone has been such a hassle..?

Thanks

Nick_C

emmb wrote: »

I thought registering did actually put you on the electoral register so not sure how that could be at both properties.

You can be on the Electoral Register at more than one property if you have more then one home.

You can only vote once in an election.

If you have a home in London and a home in the country, and there is a European or Parliamentary Election, you must only vote once. If there are local elections in both your homes, and they are in different constituencies, you can vote in each election. EG, you could vote in the Westminster Council election, and the Brighton City Council election, if you had homes in both constituencies. You are after all paying Council Tax on both your homes.

Nick_C

Eco_Miser wrote: »

That's good to hear, because your previous post certainly looked as though you were saying you thought it appropriate to require a passport or driving license

No, I said "most people have photo ID available in the form of a driving license or passport, and being required to show appropriate ID when applying for a ballot paper makes perfect sense."

For most people, the appropriate ID will be a driving license or passport. Of course it would not be appropriate to disenfranchise people who did not hold either of those documents.

Voters in N Ireland already have to produce ID at polling stations, and bus passes with photo ID are accepted. Expired documents are also accepted provided the photo is still a good likeness.

Plums

I have received my letter which confirms that I have been automatically re-registered under the new system.

It also states that my details are on the open register and to contact them if I want to be removed.

The article on MSE states that 'If you have opted out before, you'll stay opted out' however I opted out of the open register back in 2005 and according to a recent credit search I haven't been on the open register since that date.

Is this a 'mistake' or is Leeds City council just adding everyone to the open register regardless of whether they previously opted out from this in order to increase the data on the open register which they can then sell on?

GingerBob_3

Nick_C wrote: »

Can I just say thank you to the EC for clarifying the issue on storing National Insurance numbers. My initial concern and reason for posting on this thread was because I assumed that local councils had secretly obtained NINos from HMRC/DWP. I am glad this is not the case.

The old system was wide open to abuse. A dishonest householder could formerly make a return including fictitious names, or omitting people at the property who should have been registered. Verifying the registration form and introducing personal responsibility for registration is a sensible move.

Equally, the actual process of applying for a ballot paper is entirely on trust. You simply go to the polling station, tell them your address, and state your name. If you are on the register, and the register has not been marked to show you have already voted, you will be given a ballot paper. The current safeguard is meant to be that you have to audibly state your name to the poll clerk, who then audibly repeats it. If another person in the room hears the name and knows you are not that person, you could be challenged. That system has worked well, and may well have been fairly robust in the days when we all lived in real communities and knew our neighbours. Nowadays, most people have photo ID available in the form of a driving license or passport, and being required to show appropriate ID when applying for a ballot paper makes perfect sense. Although proven electoral fraud is rare, suspicions run high that that more fraud exists than is proven. Putting measures in place to minimise the opportunity for fraud is prudent.

Apart from being illegal, it also anti social to attempt to avoid registering to vote. It increases the cost of administering the registration process, which we taxpayers pay for. It distorts population statistics, which can cause an unfair distribution of funding to local councils. It reduces the pool of potential Jurors. The "closed register" gives adequate privacy.

No it isn't. It's a stupid move because it will result in fewer people voting. The new arrangements are simply a solution for which there was no problem.

No it isn't. Spitting in the street is anti-social; not registering to vote is a personal choice.

Electoral_Commission

Plums wrote: »

I have received my letter which confirms that I have been automatically re-registered under the new system.

It also states that my details are on the open register and to contact them if I want to be removed.

The article on MSE states that 'If you have opted out before, you'll stay opted out' however I opted out of the open register back in 2005 and according to a recent credit search I haven't been on the open register since that date.

Is this a 'mistake' or is Leeds City council just adding everyone to the open register regardless of whether they previously opted out from this in order to increase the data on the open register which they can then sell on?

Hi Plums,

The open register (also known as the edited register) has been in place since 2002.

Since 2002 electors have had to make a choice about whether to opt-out of the open register (previously referred to as the edited register). All households were sent a canvass form every year listing everyone who was registered. Each person on the form had to make their choice every year and tick a box on the form if they wanted to opt out of the edited register.

It is only from now on, that a person’s open register choice will continue (unless they change address – then they would have to make a fresh registration application and open register choice).

We would advise that you contact Leeds Council to let them know that you wish to change your open register status.

Hope that helps.

Thanks,

Electoral Commission

Electoral_Commission

emmb wrote: »

I have been living in my own property for about 12 years so of course was registered there but then had a motorbike accident which has left me paralysed in a wheelchair..meaning I cannot access that property and cannot be adapted although trying to find a way. So in the meantime I am in rented adapted property in the next town which is temporary. I had expected to be there for only one month before finding private rental but medical reason meant I've been there a year now so have sorted council tax here and yet to sort council tax there (perhaps you have another forum for that?..if anyone knows can u tell me tks) but confused about the electoral role..so far I have ignored the relevant documentation completely (but think somehow I' may have been registered here maybe by the organisation I rent it from but not shure) What should I do..which should I register at and then what do I do about my own one?

Just some extra rambling..in case an element of it is relevant....Every month I think I'll move out of here into another property but I can't say for sure when it will be until relevant property comes up and I find out what goes on with work (another complicated story) so in my mind this is very temporary plus not long how long is the maximum I am allowed to stay here..it is like a halfway house after leaving hospital but strictly temporary.

My own property.. Right now I can't rent it out or sell it and aim to look to see if I can adapt it if not do work then rent it once my medication has been sorted for pain and cognitive skils.

Hi emmb,

We’re not completely clear if you have received a letter from the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) and at which property so it’s a bit tricky for us to offer advice. We think the best thing to do here is to get in touch with your local ERO since ultimately, it will be their decision as to whether you can register at two addresses and they will have all the facts you need. You can find their details at aboutmyvote.co.uk by searching with your current postcode and they should be able to help you.

We hope that will resolve the problem.

Electoral Commission

Electoral_Commission

MrsDanvers wrote: »

As the Electoral Commission rep is here, perhaps you can answer the following question. At previous elections once I've voted I've been asked by the person at the desk for my voter's card so s/he can note me as voted - I always refuse as my vote is personal and it's no-one else's business what I do with it. At the elections in May the candidates for the main parties were demanding these details at the door BEFORE people entered the polling station and rather grudgingly adding that I have the right to refuse. For some people this would be remarkably like intimidation, especially as each polling form has a number on it that enables the votes to be matched with the voter. I know that's unlikely to happen, but just who gives these people to demand such private information in such a way?

Hi MrsDanvers,

Tellers are the people who ask for elector numbers from voters. They have no legal status, and work for political parties rather than the Returning Officer.

Voters do not have to give their elector numbers to tellers, if they do, this tells the party that the elector voted, not how they have voted.

The Commission has produced Tellers' Guidance and FAQs which can both be found on the Electoral Commission website.

Our guidance does say that tellers can approach voters on the way in and on the way out of the polling station. However it also states that they must comply with the instructions of the Returning Officer, and if the RO decides that they are not to approach voters on the way into a station but only on the way out, tellers must abide by that decision.

It is essential that tellers do not act to unduly influence voters, or act in a way that could be perceived to unduly influence voters.

If you feel that a teller has not behaved appropriately, it might be worth contacting the Returning Officer at your local authority who can remind tellers of their obligations.

Hope that helps.

Thanks,

Electoral Commission

Steph312

Hi

I received this letter and told my council I wanted to vote but not to be on the list that companies can buy. Ever since these changes brought in, I've noticed many websites popping up with many peoples details from electoral roll, although the information is a bit dated it is listed freely. I know they said companies could buy it which was the same before even people could/can buy it, but once they've bought it they now seem to be able to do anything they want with it i.e. share it freely on the internet. Isn't this a security breach or is this 100% within their legal rights and whatever rights UK voters may have left.

Here are some examples, but new ones keep on coming:
http://freeelectoralrolluk.com
http://uk-white-pages.virtualyp.com
http://www.freeelectoralroll.co.uk
http://www.searchelectoralroll.co.uk

Luckily Google have put measures in place for people to take their details off the internet in general via this webform https://support.google.com/legal/contact/lr_eudpa?product=websearch&hl=en

I have completed this successfully but found specifically regarding this electoral roll issue and the sites involved. Google takes the info off however they just make a new site re-posting my information, twice now!

Unlike 192.com where you can officially have information removed via a C01 form by post or online etc and its completed and removed as requested, these new sites want money in some cases to take your information down referring me to another sister site, http://4privacy.org/ :rotfl:and it looks so dodgy, it must be heaven sent to scammers in this country and or abroad through postal scams :spam:. Which I am now receiving also from Indonesia by the way, supposedly i won a six figure cash prize, never before.

What can be done to remove this information? The damage has already been done and since this is the internet, a beast probably out of the control of any government and this database of information in free on cyberspace. What can be done to restore the safety and privacy of peoples personal details, if there are any plans to do anything about this at all :T