Stoke-on-Trent City Council 8th Dec 2011 - Questions from the public - Electoral Registration – by Mr Adam Colclough

The government has announced proposals to move from household voter registration to individual registration, meaning the public will no longer be compelled to comply with electoral registration officers.

Household registration may present problems in relation to possible fraud, however the move to individual registration could see up to ten million people failing to register to vote.

Parliamentarians, academics and the Electoral Commission have expressed concern that the resulting shrinkage of the electoral register could cast doubt on the validity of future election results.

What steps will the council take should individual registration become the norm to ensure the maximum number of people join the electoral register and make use of their right to vote?

Response Provided by the Leader of the Council (Councillor Mohammed Pervez):-

Whilst the government is committed to introducing individual electoral registration from 2014, it is still at a very early stage in terms of detail.
It is therefore not possible to give any indication of what steps the city council will take to ensure the completeness of the electoral register. Final legislation will dictate how the system will be implemented and administered.
However, Stoke on Trent has an excellent record of ensuring that the electoral register is full and accurate, achieving a response rate of over 96% at the annual canvass in recent years.

Electoral Registration Officers’ performance is monitored by the Electoral Commission. Since the inception of the performance standards, Stoke-on-Trent has never failed to meet or exceed the standard.
Regardless of the system that is used, the Electoral Registration Officer is fully committed to doing everything possible (within legislation and with resources available) to ensure that no elector in Stoke on Trent is disenfranchised and is given the facilities required to cast their vote.

(In a supplementary question, Mr Colclough asked the Leader of the Council if he agreed that effective engagement with communities was a priority for the City. Councillor Pervez gave reassurances that the City Council was fully committed to effective community engagement and the democratic processes that existed to support community engagement.)

To see a full list of public questions on the Council's website - click here