Electoral Roll - United Kingdom

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the right to register for voting extends to all British, Republic of Ireland, Commonwealth and European Union citizens. British citizens living overseas may register for up to 15 years after they were last registered at an address in the UK. It is possible for someone to register before their 18th birthday as long as they will reach that age before the next revision of the register.

The register is compiled for each polling district, and held by the electoral registration office. In England and Wales this office is located at the local council (district, borough, or unitary level). In Scotland, the offices are sometimes located with councils, but may also be separate. Northern Ireland has a central Electoral Office run by the government.

At present, the register is compiled by sending an annual canvass form to every house (a process introduced by Representation of the People Act 1918). A fine of up to £1,000 (level 3 on the Standard scale) can be imposed for giving false information. Up to 2001, the revised register was published on 15 February each year, based on a qualifying date of 10 October, and a draft register published on 28 November the previous year. From 2001 as a result of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, the annual 'revised' register is published on 1 December, although it is possible to update the register with new names each month between January and September.

The register has two formats. The full version of the register is available for supervised inspection by anyone, by legal right. It is this register that is used for voting and its supply and use is limited by law. Copies of this register are available to certain groups and individuals, such as credit reference agencies and political parties.

An 'edited' version of the register, which omits those people who have chosen to 'opt-out', can be purchased by anyone for any purpose. Some companies provide online searchable access to the edited register for a fee.

The full register contains the following information:

• elector number (two letters indicating the polling district, followed by a number)
• elector's name and address
• date of birth (if 18th birthday falls within a year of the register is published)
• if the elector has requested a postal vote

After an election a 'Marked Register' can be inspected, which is a copy of the register used for the election with a mark by each elector that has voted.

Plans for a Coordinated Online Register of Electors (CORE) are underway; the intention being to standardise local registers and permit central data access.

It was suggested that the register data could be taken from the data that was to be held on the proposed Citizen Information Project, or on the National Identity Register . In January 2005 the Constitutional Affairs Committee and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister began a joint inquiry into reforming the registration system. In January 2010 the Identity Documents Act 2010 repealed the Identity Cards Act 2006 which set up the National Identity Register.

Despite widespread calls for its introduction, the Electoral Administration Act 2006 did not provide for individual elector registration, on the justification that registration levels would fall. However, the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 introduced a move from a system of household registration to a system of individual electoral registration in Great Britain.

In the UK, there are two versions of the electoral roll. The full version and the edited version, and people can choose to have their details excluded from the edited version when registering to vote. The full register is used for elections, preventing and detecting crime, and checking applications for credit. The edited register is available for general sale and is used for commercial activities, or to help reunite families and friends, as used by the online directory, 192.com.