Memorandum by Westbury Town Council (VOT
07)
(a) Advantage of individual registration
is that it is not out of date as soon as the Register is published.
Even with a monthly update to the Electoral Roll it is still possible
for people not to be registered at the correct address. With 1.25
million households changing hands each year, any registration
system based on households as opposed to individuals is likely
to be out of date as soon as published.
(b) In general this Town Council supports
compulsory registration in the same way that National Insurance
registration is compulsory. This would at least ensure that each
member of the population has at some time been forced to consider
their position on polling. This should be supported by a legal
framework with penalties for non registration.
(c) This Town Council considers this to
be impractical and does not see how it could improve voter participation
in elections.
(d) The advantages of electronic and other
methods, ie postal voting, have been proved worthwhile in the
pilot schemes so far implemented. However, this is not considered
appropriate for a large section of the population for whom the
completion of a ballot paper in a polling both is the only acceptable
method. Therefore, any alternative method of recording votes must
be run in parallel with the existing system.
(e) The registration form is only one among
many that any individual, disabled or otherwise, is required to
complete. At the moment, current registration seems to work for
all sections of the population, including the disabled. For actual
voting, the Disability Discrimination Act has ensured that most
polling stations are now accessible, and where not a postal vote
is always available.
(f) Making the Electoral Roll less accessible
and less available has been the result of the Data Protection
Act, which has meant that it is now much more difficult to check
whether voters are registered. Whilst it is appreciated that in
the past this may have caused problems with members of the security
forces, who may not wish to be identified, it does make ensuring
maximum registration occurs more difficult.
(g) Address based or other personal criteria
such as birth date is obviously impractical, whereas the use of
a NI number is precise. If some individual registration system
is to be introduced it seems that the use of the NI number would
be the most practical. The introduction of identity cards would,
of course, solve this problem any way. However, this subject is
beyond the scope of this inquiry.
(h) Whilst this may smack of "Big Brother"
and the nanny state, such a system would solve many of the current
problems, especially if the registration number has to be produced
in order to vote by whatever means.
(i) The current system is wide open to abuse,
and it is surprising that electoral fraud is not more widespread
in this country. Any scheme, which ensures security of the register
and the recording of votes correctly is to be welcome, although
each of the items mentioned is capable of being thwarted. Electoral
voting cards do not have to be produced in order to vote, and
even when they are there is no cross reference to the person carrying
it. Equally signatures, and even pin numbers, can be circumvented.
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