Electoral Commission must do more to make sure people in rented accomodation can vote
6th March 2007
Alan Whitehead yesterday pushed the Electoral Commission to explain why such a high number of those living in rented or rent free accomodation were not registered to vote and therefore unable to exercise their democratic right on polling day. He then highlighted that this anomaly was not being adequately tackled because the Electoral Commission had not included it in a list of indicators against which Electoral Administrators’ performance was judged. There therefore seems to be little incentive for this under-registration to be improved. Dr Whitehead was speaking at Parliamentary Questions to the Speaker on the Electoral Commission.
Speaking after the debate Dr Whitehead said:
“With such a high percentage of my constituents in Southampton living in rented or rent-free accomodation I am personally concerned that there is little being done to prevent them losing their right to vote. I know it’s often difficult if you live in rented accomodation and you move regularly, or if you’re a student and you move home in the holidays, to see registering with your local election office as a priority. However, unless you do, come election day, you will not be able to vote – either to keep the same candidate in or to vote them out! It’s everyone’s right to exercise their voice in this way, which is why I pushed the Electoral Commission yesterday to explain why they weren’t doing more to combat this huge problem of under-registration in rented and rent free accomodation.”
Speaking in the House of Commons, Dr Whitehead (Southampton, Test) (Lab):
What assessment the Electoral Commission has made of voter registration, broken down by housing tenure.
Peter Viggers (Gosport):
The Electoral Commission informs me that its report, “Understanding electoral registration”, published in 2005, found that people living in rented or rent-free accommodation were on average up to five times more likely not to be registered than owner-occupiers.
Dr. Whitehead:
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that reply. Is it not therefore somewhat surprising that the registration of voters in rented accommodation does not appear in the recommended indicators put forward by the Electoral Commission? Would it be a good idea to look at that again to see whether those indicators might be amended to provide information on the registration of people in those circumstances?
Peter Viggers:
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue. The figure that I gave conceals a number of discrepancies. For instance, 27 per cent. of those living in accommodation rented from private landlords or letting agencies are unregistered and11 per cent. of those renting from a housing association are likely to be unregistered. The commission’s research identified several reasons for under-registration. Some people are unintentionally unregistered, while others are deliberately unregistered. He makes a useful proposal, and I am sure that the Electoral Commission will wish to consider it.
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