Post by IggyWiggy on Jan 31, 2016 18:41:38 GMT
An estimated 800,000 people have dropped off the electoral register since the government introduced changes to the system, with students in university towns at highest risk of being disenfranchised, the Guardian has learned.
The number of voters registered in December – the first under the new individual electoral registration system – represents 1.8% fewer than the previous year, with just months to go before May’s local, assembly and mayoral elections.
Figures compiled by the Labour party found the register has shrunk more dramatically in areas with a high population of students, such as Canterbury, which has seen a 13% drop, and Cambridge and Dundee West, which have both seen an 11% fall.
Gloria de Piero, the shadow minister for electoral registration, said the data revealed an alarming reduction in the number of students on the register, which is likely to raise fears that election results could be swayed by absent blocks of like-minded voters.
With the National Voter Registration Drive starting on Monday, De Piero has written to John Penrose, a cabinet office minister, to call for all universities to offer registration for students when they enrol.
“The transition to individual electoral registration (IER) has resulted in a significant fall in the number of people on the electoral register in areas with a university,” she said. “As you will know, IER prevents universities from block registering all their students in halls of residence, but measures should be taken to ensure that it is as easy as possible for individual students to register.”
“Sheffield University has seen outstanding results by integrating voter registration into the enrolment process. This makes it easy for students to opt into being registered, and has resulted in 67% of students at the university being on the register.
“I write to you today to call for official guidance to be issued to every vice-chancellor in the country about how they can adopt the Sheffield model in their universities for next year’s enrolment.”
She said warnings from both Labour and the electoral commission about a fall in student registration had so far been ignored but it was not too late to put it right. Speaking in the House of Commons, Penrose has said he sympathises with Labour concerns but it is “not quite that simple”. Several methods of encouraging students to register are being trialled across the country with promising results, he told MPs.
People can register until about three weeks before the next elections but the December list is also important because the government is planning to base boundary changes on its figures. Labour argues the missing sections of the electorate are predominantly their supporters, potentially skewing the result of the review in favour of Conservative-held areas.
The government moved from registration of electors by household to asking individuals to sign up as part of a drive to increase the accuracy of the list and eliminate fraud and error. The vast majority of people have been transferred automatically from the old to the new list but around one in 10 have not been, and new voters have to sign up as an individual from now on.
In the run-up to the transfer, the electoral commission raised concerns at the speed of implantation and risk of up to 1.9 million people falling off the register without a concerted drive to publicise the need for them to sign up as individuals. Labour had warned it thought around 1 million could drop off.
Since then, the government and third parties have embarked on voter registration drives to raise awareness about the new system, but Labour still believes the December register shows a problem with student registration in particular.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said individual electoral registration was an “essential measure to tackle electoral fraud”.
“We have worked hard with local authorities for years now to clean up the register – any entries removed will be people who have moved house, died or never existed because they were registered fraudulently,” she said.
“Students often move house every year and this can make it hard for councils to keep accurate registers. That’s why, with the government’s help, councils are working with universities on ways of ensuring the highest possible level of student registration.
“We fully support the aims of the National Voter Registration Drive this week. Students, like everyone, can now apply to register online in just a few minutes and at any time, day or night.”
www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/31/electoral-register-loses-estimated-800000-people-since-changes-to-system
The number of voters registered in December – the first under the new individual electoral registration system – represents 1.8% fewer than the previous year, with just months to go before May’s local, assembly and mayoral elections.
Figures compiled by the Labour party found the register has shrunk more dramatically in areas with a high population of students, such as Canterbury, which has seen a 13% drop, and Cambridge and Dundee West, which have both seen an 11% fall.
Gloria de Piero, the shadow minister for electoral registration, said the data revealed an alarming reduction in the number of students on the register, which is likely to raise fears that election results could be swayed by absent blocks of like-minded voters.
With the National Voter Registration Drive starting on Monday, De Piero has written to John Penrose, a cabinet office minister, to call for all universities to offer registration for students when they enrol.
“The transition to individual electoral registration (IER) has resulted in a significant fall in the number of people on the electoral register in areas with a university,” she said. “As you will know, IER prevents universities from block registering all their students in halls of residence, but measures should be taken to ensure that it is as easy as possible for individual students to register.”
“Sheffield University has seen outstanding results by integrating voter registration into the enrolment process. This makes it easy for students to opt into being registered, and has resulted in 67% of students at the university being on the register.
“I write to you today to call for official guidance to be issued to every vice-chancellor in the country about how they can adopt the Sheffield model in their universities for next year’s enrolment.”
She said warnings from both Labour and the electoral commission about a fall in student registration had so far been ignored but it was not too late to put it right. Speaking in the House of Commons, Penrose has said he sympathises with Labour concerns but it is “not quite that simple”. Several methods of encouraging students to register are being trialled across the country with promising results, he told MPs.
People can register until about three weeks before the next elections but the December list is also important because the government is planning to base boundary changes on its figures. Labour argues the missing sections of the electorate are predominantly their supporters, potentially skewing the result of the review in favour of Conservative-held areas.
The government moved from registration of electors by household to asking individuals to sign up as part of a drive to increase the accuracy of the list and eliminate fraud and error. The vast majority of people have been transferred automatically from the old to the new list but around one in 10 have not been, and new voters have to sign up as an individual from now on.
In the run-up to the transfer, the electoral commission raised concerns at the speed of implantation and risk of up to 1.9 million people falling off the register without a concerted drive to publicise the need for them to sign up as individuals. Labour had warned it thought around 1 million could drop off.
Since then, the government and third parties have embarked on voter registration drives to raise awareness about the new system, but Labour still believes the December register shows a problem with student registration in particular.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said individual electoral registration was an “essential measure to tackle electoral fraud”.
“We have worked hard with local authorities for years now to clean up the register – any entries removed will be people who have moved house, died or never existed because they were registered fraudulently,” she said.
“Students often move house every year and this can make it hard for councils to keep accurate registers. That’s why, with the government’s help, councils are working with universities on ways of ensuring the highest possible level of student registration.
“We fully support the aims of the National Voter Registration Drive this week. Students, like everyone, can now apply to register online in just a few minutes and at any time, day or night.”
www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/31/electoral-register-loses-estimated-800000-people-since-changes-to-system