Individual Electoral Registration – changes voting registration

Electoral_Commission wrote: »

Hi Bob,

Credit Reference Agencies can check the names of those registered to vote at a particular address but they can’t access other information (e.g. NI no.) from the register.

Hope that's helpful.

Thanks,

Electoral Commission

MSE_Wendy wrote: »

It can also help boost your credit score as if you're not on the electoral roll it's unlikely you'll get accepted for credit.

I’ve just found out that my credit score has dropped – should I be worried? Right, hold on there for a second. Actually, you don't have a credit score in the UK, you don’t have a credit rating, and there’s no such thing as a credit blacklist.

Electoral_Commission wrote: »

Hi Adindas,

We'll answer your questions separately.

Could any organization try to search my name and address on Electoral Vote and send unsolicited mail using my full name and address without my permission?

The electoral register lists the names and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote in public elections. The register is used for electoral purposes, such as making sure only eligible people can vote. It is also used for other limited purposes specified in law, such as detecting crime (e.g. fraud), calling people for jury service and checking credit applications.

Electoral registration officers keep two registers – the electoral register and the open register (also known as the edited register).

The electoral register is, by law, a public document. It is available for inspection to allow members of the public to check to ensure that all eligible names have been included and that the names of ineligible people have not. This is considered to be an important safeguard against the potential for abuse of the electoral system. As indicated above, it can only be supplied to certain persons/organisations specified in law, and those persons/organisations are not able to disclose any information from it (that is not included on the open register), and can only use the information contained in the electoral register for the purpose for which they are entitled to receive it. The electoral register is usually in street order rather than name order.

The open register is an extract of the electoral register, but is not used for elections. It can be bought by any person, company or organisation. For example, it is used by businesses and charities to confirm name and address details. Your name and address will be included in the open register unless you ask for them to be removed. Removing your details from the open register does not affect your right to vote.

In order to check whether you are on the open version of the register, you will need to contact the Electoral Registration Officer at your local council, as they are responsible for maintaining the register. To find their contact details, enter your postcode on aboutmyvote.co.uk.

Also apart from names and address what other public information on particular person is published ?

The electoral register lists the names and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote in public elections. Franchise markers are also included indicating eligibility to vote in particular elections for certain electors. Where the person registered is between 16 and 18 their date of birth is included to signify when they will be able to vote for the first time. The open register is identical to the electoral register except that it does not include the details of any elector who has requested that there details be excluded.

More information about electoral registration can be found at aboutmyvote.co.uk.