Total Number of Registered Voters

The request was successful.

Dear Electoral Commission,

Please find here my Freedom of information request.

1.) Could you please inform me of the total number of UK registered voters to date (2012)
2.) total number UK residents to eligible vote.
3.) total Number of UK residents "DE-registering" to vote.
4.) mechanism allowing "DE-registering" to vote

Yours faithfully,

E Blundell

Danny Creighton, Electoral Commission

Dear E Blundell,

Our Ref: FOI 22/12

Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act dated Tuesday 8 May 2012, requesting

1.) Could you please inform me of the total number of UK registered voters to date (2012)
2.) total number UK residents to eligible vote.
3.) total Number of UK residents "DE-registering" to vote.
4.) mechanism allowing "DE-registering" to vote

The Commission aims to respond to requests for information promptly and within the statutory timeframe of twenty working days.

You may expect to receive a reply sent from the Commission by Friday 8 June 2012.

Yours sincerely

DWCreighton

Danny Creighton
Information Adviser
Tel: 020 7271 0554
Fax: 020 7271 0505
[email address]<mailto:[Electoral Commission request email]>

FOI, Electoral Commission

Dear E Blundell,

Our Ref: FOI 22/12

Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 dated Tuesday 8 May 2012.

The Commission aims to respond to requests for information promptly and has done so within the statutory timeframe of twenty working days.

The questions detailed in your request are highlighted in bold below followed by our response.

1. Could you please inform me of the total number of UK registered voters to date (2012)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collates data returned by individual Electoral Registration Officers (based in local authorities) and the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland in order to produce annual statistics on electoral registration in the UK. The most recent statistics that they have published are for the number of entries on the electoral register as of 1 December 2011. These statistics show that on that date there were 47,383,464 entries on the local government electoral register and 46,107,152 entries on the Parliamentary electoral register There are two different electoral registers, one for Parliamentary elections and one for local government elections. For other elections or referendums, one register or the other is always used. The main difference between the two registers is that citizens of the European Union (EU) who are resident in the UK are eligible to be on the local government register, but not the Parliamentary one
.

2. Total number UK residents to eligible vote.
At the present time, the Commission does not hold this information as it does not exist.
To be eligible to vote in the UK someone must be on an electoral register in the UK, must be aged 18 or over and must be eligible to be on that register. To be eligible to be on an electoral register a person must have British, Irish, Commonwealth or EU citizenship (EU citizens may only be on the local government register). If they are not British they must be resident in the UK and have leave to remain here, or not require such leave. Although people do not become eligible to vote until they are 18, electoral registers also include records of 'attainers' - 16- and 17-year-olds who will turn 18 during the period in which the register is in force. There are a small number of specific exceptions to these general rules. For instance, all convicted prisoners currently lose their right to vote, as do some
people detained in institutions due to severe mental illnesses. There is no way of calculating the exact number of people on an electoral register who are actually eligible to be on it (for example, some people may be registered to vote at an address that they no longer live at). Nor is there a way of calculating the exact number of people who are not on an electoral register but who are eligible to be on one. However, the 2011 census included questions which should enable us to make an estimate of the number of UK residents who are eligible to be on an electoral register once census data is published.
You may be interested to know that in December 2011 the Commission published research which estimated the percentage of eligible people who were registered to vote in Great Britain. You can read the full findings from this study at the following link http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__...

3. Total number of UK residents "DE-registering" to vote.
There are a number of different processes by which a person can be deleted from an electoral register (see Q4 below).
The Electoral Commission collects data about electoral registration from Electoral Registration Officers every year as part of its performance standards monitoring. This data includes three different categories of deletion but there is no overall figure for the total number of UK residents removed from the register.

Based on the returns we received, we have collated the following figures for 2009-10. Please note that not all Electoral Registration Officers returned data for each category so this does not represent a total figure.

* Total number of electors deleted from the September 2010 register following the 2010 annual canvass in Great Britain - 4,124,222.
* Total number of electors deleted from the register during the period 1 December 2009 - 1 September 2010 in Great Britain - 955,262.
* Total number of electors deleted following reviews of registration undertaken by the ERO in the period 1 December 2009 - 1 December 2010 in Great Britain was 45,748 (please note that some, but not all, of these deletions will also have been included in the 955,262 deletions recorded in the category above).

You can find more information about electoral registration performance standards, including data for individual local authorities, at the following link. http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/pe... Data for 2010 to 2011 will be published later this year.

4. The mechanism allowing "DE-registering" to vote
There are a number of different processes by which a person can be deleted from an electoral register. These are outlined fully in our guidance, Managing Electoral Registration in Great Britain which you can find at the following link: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__... The relevant sections are in Part C. Part C, page 28 covers non-response deletions during the annual canvass, pages 34/5 give advice for elections during the canvass and generally where names crossed off canvass forms must be deleted. Page 36 includes other deletions. Page 37 covers the carry forward rule and relates to the non-response deletions on page 28.
Part D, section 6 talks about the system of reviewing entries on the register and removing them if necessary.
In summary, an Electoral Registration Officer may remove a name from the electoral register if:

* A registration form has not been returned for two annual canvasses and it has not otherwise been possible to be satisfied that the elector is still resident.
* There is information during the canvass that the elector is no longer eligible for registration such as their name being crossed off a canvass form or records show that the elector has moved.
* An elector has died and a relative or a registrar sends notification of the death to the Electoral Registration Officer.
* The elector themselves notifies the Electoral Registration Officer that they are no longer resident or qualify for registration.
* The Electoral Registration Officer determines after an objection or a review of registration that an entry in the register should be removed.
* The applicant has successfully applied for registration at a different address in the Electoral Registration Officer's area and the previous address is given on or with the application.
* Notification has been received from another Electoral Registration Officer stating that an elector has successfully applied for registration in another area.

I trust that this information satisfies your request.

If you are not satisfied with this response, please note that the Commission operates a review procedure, details of which can be found on the Commission website at: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/ab...
Please also note that if you have exhausted all internal Commission review procedures and you are still not satisfied you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner. Details of this procedure can be found on the ICO website: http://www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

DWCreighton

Danny Creighton
Information Adviser
Tel: 020 7271 0554
Fax: 020 7271 0505
[Electoral Commission request email]<mailto:[Electoral Commission request email]>

Dear FOI,
Thank you for your reply.

Yours sincerely,

e blundell