Government backtracks on new voter registration rules

Author: Peter Facey

Marking a victory for democracy campaigners, the government has capitulated on its plans to introduce an “opt out” on voter registration.

Responding to the public consultation on its own proposals to introduce individual elector registration, the Cabinet Office has today declared that it will change its plans in a number of key ways:

• They will now hold a full household canvass in spring 2014, deferring the planned canvass from autumn 2013.
• The new right to “opt out” of registration will not be introduced in its originally proposed form; the government plans to either require people who wish to opt out to fill in a separate form (as opposed to merely ticking a box on the registration form) or drop the plan altogether.
• Although the government remains minded to oppose creating a new law to make it an offence for people to not register, they plan to consult more widely on the issue before bringing forward the final legislation.

This is an entirely welcome step forward and we are pleased the government has listened to the concerns it received about its original proposals.  More than 750 responded to our push to get people to respond directly to the consultation, while over 2,100 people used our website to write to their MP about the issue.

Unlock Democracy has always supported the introduction of individual elector registration itself as an important tool for tackling voter fraud.  Our concerns with the government proposals have always been over the pace the government planned to introduce the new system and the introduction of the “opt out” which we believe would have a negative impact in terms of both voter participation and the jury system.  So we welcome this climbdown, although we will be continuing to push for the government to drop its plans for an “opt out” altogether.  We also remain concerned at how the timetable for introducing individual elector registration will still coincide with the 2015 review of parliamentary constituency boundaries which can only exacerbate the risk of people falling off the electoral map altogether.

Finally, we would like to thank the thousands of people who put pressure on their MP and government over this crucially important issue.  Your letters made a real difference.

You can read the Cabinet Office’s response to the consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny by visiting its website.