electoral roll anonymity

Dear N Grantham,

I am replying to your e-mail of 17 May seeking information about anonymous
electoral registration.

In its 2003 report, Voting for Change, the independent Electoral
Commission recommended that anonymous registration be made available to
any elector able to demonstrate that a genuine threat to their safety
would arise should their personal details be publicly accessible on the
full electoral register. The Government accepted this recommendation -
balancing public safety against the principles of electoral openness and
accountability - and made legislative provision for the introduction of an
anonymous registration scheme in Great Britain under the Electoral
Administration Act 2006. Anonymous registration came into force in Great
Britain for the first time on 1 June 2007. Northern Ireland consulted on
anonymous registration in the early part of 2008, and a scheme is expected
to be introduced there by the time Parliament goes into Recess in late
Summer this year.

The Government's concern was to safeguard the historical status of the
register as a public document whilst also protecting members of the public
who were genuinely vulnerable rather than simply desirous of securing
additional privacy. This is why the arrangements, as set out in the 2006
Act, required that anonymous registration forms be accompanied by either a
court order or an attestation by a suitably qualified person such as Chief
Constable, Director of Adult Social Services or Director of Children's
Services. No provision was made to allow delegation of this duty to a
more junior member of staff.

However, following discussions with the Association of Chief Police
Officers (ACPO) changes have been introduced to enable officers of the
rank of superintendent and above to attest applications from members of
the public. Under the original regulations, only the Chief Officer (or
equivalent) of a police force could do this. In practice this meant that
a member of the public presenting an application at their local police
station was not able to have it considered and signed there since it had,
instead, to be forwarded to the Chief Officer in HQ.

Allowing officers of the rank of Superintendent and above to attest
applications streamlines the process for the applicant who will now be
able to have his or her application attested at their local police station
in conjunction with Domestic Violence Units who will be working with
vulnerable people. Improving the application process will help to
encourage those vulnerable people who may otherwise choose not to register
to vote and thus be excluded from participation in the democratic process.

At the same time corresponding changes have been introduced allowing some
delegation in respect of those officers qualified to attest applications
in social services across the UK and other amendments made in respect of
types of orders and injunctions that can be used as evidence in support of
an application.

These regulations came into effect on 17 March.

Anonymous registration has only been in operation since June 2007. You
may be interested to know that according to the Office for National
Statistics 551 electors were included in electoral registers in England,
Wales and Scotland as being anonymously registered on 1 December 2008
(this compares to 310 in 2007).

The changes made in respect of who constitutes a qualifying officer and
relevant court orders and injunctions will help to make the scheme more
accessible. The Electoral Commission supports these changes as they will
ensure vulnerable people have better and more consistent access to the
attestation process, while ensuring that the evidence required in support
of applications remains sufficiently stringent.

John Winter

John Winter
Elections and Democracy Division,
7th Floor,
102 Petty France,
London,
SW1H 9AJ
Tel 020 3334 3918
e-mail [email address]

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