Up to 8 million people across the United Kingdom are either incorrectly registered to vote or missing completely, according to research published today by the Electoral Commission, with young people, private renters and those who have recently moved house most affected.
The sheer number of people denied a right to vote thanks to an ‘outdated registration system’, would be equivalent in number to more than 100 UK Parliament constituencies.
The Commission is calling for urgent reforms to electoral registration rules, including the passing of legislation ‘to create clear legal gateways for government departments and public bodies to share data on potentially eligible voters with electoral administrators’. The Commission says that this would enable electoral registration officers to register voters directly, or to send them invitations to register.
…