Voter Registration Forms - Prisoners

The request was partially successful.

Dear Electoral Commission,

The following categories of prisoner are eligible to vote in the United Kingdom:

• Remand
• Convicted, unsentenced
• Contempt of court
• Non-payment of fine
• Temporary release
• Home detention curfew (or equivalent)
• Those serving a sentence of 1 year or less (Scotland only)

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, can you please provide me with the following information.

Can you please provide me with copies of the voter registration forms which would be used by each of these categories of prisoner in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

Yours faithfully,

Robert Jones

FOI, Electoral Commission

Dear Robert Jones,

 

Our Ref: FOI 139-21

 

Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act dated 10
November 2021. You wrote:

 

The following categories of prisoner are eligible to vote in the United
Kingdom:

•           Remand 

•           Convicted, unsentenced

•           Contempt of court

•           Non-payment of fine

•           Temporary release

•           Home detention curfew (or equivalent)

•           Those serving a sentence of 1 year or less (Scotland only)

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, can you please
provide me with the following information.

Can you please provide me with copies of the voter registration forms
which would be used by each of these categories of prisoner in England,
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

 

 

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 8 December
2021.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Information Officer

[1][Electoral Commission request email]

 

The Electoral Commission

[2]electoralcommission.org.uk

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Electoral Commission request email]
2. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/

FOI, Electoral Commission

Dear Robert Jones

 

 

Our Ref: FOI 139-21

 

 

Thank you for your email to the Electoral Commission dated 10/11/2021.

 

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

 

Your request is in bold below followed by our response.

 

The following categories of prisoner are eligible to vote in the United
Kingdom: 
 
•           Remand  
•           Convicted, unsentenced
•           Contempt of court
•           Non-payment of fine 
•           Temporary release
•           Home detention curfew (or equivalent)
•           Those serving a sentence of 1 year or less (Scotland only)
 
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, can you please
provide me with the following information.
 
Can you please provide me with copies of the voter registration forms
which would be used by each of these categories of prisoner in England,
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

 

 

Our response is as follows:

 

We hold the information you have requested.

 

The information that you have requested is exempt from disclosure under
section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Section 21 provides for
an exemption where the information requested is reasonably accessible to
the applicant by other means. The information that you have requested is
accessible to you via the UK Government’s registration portal and the
Electoral Commission website.

 

Registration forms for use in England, Scotland and Wales are available
for download here:
[1]www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-to-vote-if-youre-living-in-the-uk

 

As ‘ordinary’ electors, prisoners should complete the forms linked to
above. Unlike certain categories of electors, such as members of the armed
services, overseas electors or Crown Servants, there are not specific
registration forms for prisoners, unless they are serving a sentence of
one year or less and would ordinarily be resident in Scotland. In that
case, individuals should complete [2]this registration form.

 

It is for Electoral Registration Officers in Great Britain to determine
the eligibility of applicants on a case-by-case basis. Our guidance for
Electoral Registration Officers covers prisoner eligibility to register to
vote. You can find the guidance for EROs in England [3]here, for EROs in
Scotland [4]here and for EROs in Wales [5]here.

 

Electoral Registration in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the
Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland. Electoral Registration forms
for use in Northern Ireland are available on the website of the Electoral
Office for Northern Ireland:

[6]www.eoni.org.uk/Register-To-Vote/Register-to-vote-change-address-change-name

 

 

The Commission strives to be an open, transparent authority and 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:
[7]www.electoralcommission.org.uk/freedom-information/make-a-freedom-information-request.

 

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: [8]https://ico.org.uk/.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Information Team

[9][Electoral Commission request email]

The Electoral Commission

[10]electoralcommission.org.uk

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
2. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/m...
3. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/r...
4. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/r...
5. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/r...
6. https://www.eoni.org.uk/Register-To-Vote...
7. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/f...
8. https://ico.org.uk/
9. mailto:[Electoral Commission request email]
10. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/