NO2ID

Does anyone know about the changes currently under discussion about the new requirement to register on the Electoral roll and provide a significant amount of personal data to do so?

Caught a bit of Nick Clegg today in the Commons, discussing a "photocard" option, and a "tightening up" of the circumstances under which one can "opt out". He also mentioned the that failure to keep your personal data up to date would be an Offence. Isn't this the NIR/ID Card by another name? And why so little debate in the press/media?

Cameroon came in on a wave of "freedom and liberty", dropping the NIR/ID Card scheme to great applause. Is he thick if he thinks this proposed "Electoral" scheme is acceptable? Any info welcome!

One point in this post caught my eye.
You can't opt out of the Electoral Roll in any meaningful way.
You can opt out so that Marketing companies can't spam you with junk mail, but Credit Agencies and god knows who else have access to everyone on the Electoral Roll, opted out or not. And strangely enough, its Marketing companies who have been lobbying at the highest levels of government, the Cabinet and Home Office, to make it harder for you to opt out. I beleive that they sense a conspiracy against them by councils trying to claw back the use of Electoral Roll data to its proper and only use, that is to list people who are eligible to vote.
I wouldn't be surprised to find Credit Agencies lobbying to have access to more personal information in the Electoral Roll too.

Currently you can opt out of the electoral list if you want to, there is no law that requires you to fill it in

You are legally required *if* you choose to put information on the electoral registration form to put honest truthful information up on

You are also legally required to return it


So if you want to opt out all you do is return it to the council in the same manner it arrives in, do not put anything on the form at all & definately dont sign it! Just return it 'blank' for all intents & purposes. The council will be unable to use the previous list data & have to remove you from the electoral list.

You will have broken no laws

Every electoral roll form I have received has had the basic information pre-filled, usually with an identifying number that you can use when calling an automated (freephone) telephone system to verify nothing has changed. This counts as a legal return so you can shred and recycle the now unnecessary form.

This means that you cannot opt out as removing your name constitutes incorrect information (you are still living the premises).

Failure to sign the form should render the information void for the next published electoral roll.

Without a signature they have no legal proof that anyone has verified the information

These are interesting replies. Of course, if you have ever registered to vote at an address, and still live at that address, any-one with access to the full electoral roll can draw the valid inference that you continue to live at that address.

Received a electoral roll form yesterday. I am sorely tempted to shred it because it was anonymously addressed with exhortations on the envelope that I was legally bound to process the contents. Sod that. Junk mail is also addressed anonymously and anything can be printed on an envelope.

Inside (and this was a windowed envelope, so the addressee was on the same piece of paper) was the pre-filled form with valid names on it. Why one of those names couldn't have been used for the addressee is likely explained by more exhortations on the envelope that it should not be forwarded to a previous occupant. This is still not a valid reason for anonymous addressing.

Unless I've changed my name to Thep Resento Ccupier (Theo Ccupier for short) I am under no obligation to do anything with it.

I've only been doorstepped a couple of times by someone seeking electoral roll info. The first time I announced rather stupidly that I had no intention of filling it in and was warned I could be prosecuted. 'Fair enough' I said to which she replied 'Oh I'll put you down as not in then' and I never heard another thing! Since then I've always binned electoral mail (addressed to 'the occupier') unopened. 20 years on and in a different house I was caught out at 5.30pm recently by a guy seeking info and clutching forms. All I could think to say was the occupier wasn't in and I was too busy cooking (which I was) to chat! Upon which I firmly shut the door.
I just wondered if anyone has actually been done for refusing.

As far as i know, no one in linving history has been prosecuted for failing to regiester on the electoral list. Despite what elgov would like you to believe there is *no*, I repeat *no* written law that requires you to be registered to vote. Nor is there any written law preventing you from removing yourself from the electoral list by failing to update your information.

You are as I understand required to return the electoral forms posted to you, usually by your local authorities bylaws. While these forms are provided 'pre-filled' in a sense they require your signature to confirm the details are truthful & correct. All you have to do is return the form in the condition it arrives in (ie without you having done anything to it) & you will have completed your part of the 'contract'. Without a signature to confirm the details are correct any 'entires' shown on the form should become invalid & *not* be entered onto that years update data (ie you get removed from the list)

You are however legally required to provide truthful information if/when you do register, as providing false details would constitute fraud.

Not sure that a lack of signature makes a difference; if you can ring up a phone number that takes the place of returning the form (you can't sign a phone call) the update occurs.

Without a signature to the contract there is only one consenting party to the contract, ie the state, which would make it void. (one sided contracts in english law are considered unenforceable, in that while the contract may have been valid at the time of agreement, the courts will not require you to comply with the conditions of the contract)

The signature provides them with another consenting party to the contract, ie you, and provides them with someone who can be prosecuted in the information is found to be false. (remember, contracts have to be between two *consenting* parties according to english law, no signature = no agreement which in turn equals no consent)

Of course this applies only to the forms posted to you, not online or by phone as I am unaware of exactly how those systems work or even if it possible to say you wish your details are removed from the electoral roll when using those systems. It is quite clearly possible however using the good old fashioned pen & paper system which has survived for many centuries.

It's nice to see that opt-out from the Full Electoral Roll is currently running at 40%. Unfortunately that figure has dropped somewhat. It would be good to see it running at 100%. Predictably, the chicken littles at the marketing companies and credit agencies are predicting the imminent collapse of the heavens, bleating that it will cause a total failure of fraud prevention systems, whilst simultaneously crowing that it doesn't matter anyway because they have other ways of getting at this information. If it wasn't such an obvious bullying attempt to scare good citizens into handing over their personal details, it would be a rib-tickingly hilarious example of the kind of non sequiteur you get from opinion-makers at this level in industry, when they try to string their thoughts together into some kind of coherent argument.