Individual Electoral Registration
(IER)
Electoral Matters Committee
17.7.13
Legislation
• Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013
passed by Parliament on 31 January 2013
• IER will now be implemented
• Secondary Legislation still in preparation
What is IER?
• From 1 July 2014: Requirement for all persons to register to vote
individually as opposed to the current system requiring one person
in each household to register all eligible persons
• Electors will have to provide personal identifiers- likely to be
National Insurance No. and date of birth
• Signature not required- enable online registration
• Electors only placed on register once personal identifiers have
been checked against trusted data sources (e.g. from DWP)
Aims of IER
• Increase public trust in the registration system
• Encourage individual responsibility for registration
• Introduce more convenient channels of registration
• Reduce risk/perception of electoral fraud
• Maximising completeness and accuracy of the register
Electoral Year 2013
• July/August- Confirmation Dry Run
• Associated Issues:
- September/October 2013 - Potential reschedule of
2014 Absent Vote Identifier Refresh
- October to February 2013 - Delayed Annual Canvass
Electoral Year 2014
• 1 July 2014- IER ‘Go Live’
• July/August- Confirmation exercise:• All individuals on Pre-IER register will go through
secure process of data matching
• ERO writes to successful matches (estimated 70%
based on pilots)-registered under IER- no further action
needed
2014 Electoral Year (Cont’d)
• ERO writes to non-matches inviting provision of
personal identifiers (IER Form)
• Household Enquiry Form (HEF) sent to ‘other’
properties
Household Enquiry Forms (HEF)
• Sent to:
- Where no current registered elector
- New properties
- Known that entry on current register is incorrect
• HEF aims to identify potential eligible electors (i.e.: to then receive
an IER form)
• Non-responses followed up by reminders and canvasser personal
visits
HEF (Cont’d)
• Completed HEF will be used to identify:
- those currently on the register who remain eligible;
- New occupants or ‘attainers’ (16/17 year olds) who
should be invited to register to vote; and
- Electors who appear no longer to be resident (their
details have been deleted on the returned form)
IER Forms
• Personally addressed individual registration form sent to identified
electors
• Includes electors identified via the HEF
• IER form includes a request that the details of any other
occupants residing at the address who have not received an IER
form be provided
• Non-responses followed up by reminders and canvasser visits
2014 Carry Forward Arrangements
• Electors who fail to respond to the first IER canvass in 2014 will
not be removed from the register.
• Electors who fail to respond to the first IER canvass in 2014
correctly will not be removed from the register.
• Ensures such electors are not removed from the register ahead of
the 2015 General Election.
• Current absent voters who are not confirmed or fail to register
individually by 1.12.14 lose entitlement to absent vote but remain
on register.
Electoral Year 2015 (and onwards)
• January to December – Ongoing mail out and chasing
IER Forms (Rolling Registration)
• July/August- HEF to all properties to establish
residents
• August to December- Annual Canvass (IER Forms- for
individual registration)
Electoral Year 2015 (Cont’d)
• No requirement in 2015 and beyond for electors already
registered individually (and whose details have been verified) to
repeat the registration process again.
• Authenticated electors will remain registered on a continuous
basis unless:
- they notify the ERO that their details have changed: or
- the annual canvass suggests that they are no longer resident; or
- information from other sources prompts further enquiries (e.g.
data matching with DWP data)
Data Matching
• Data on Electoral Register ‘matched’ with other data e.g. DWP
data
• Data returned to ERO with RAG rating:
Green- Positive match
Amber- Matched but not entirely
Red- No match
• Amber and Red electors can be matched with local data e.g.:
Council Tax/ Housing Benefits data
Digital Service
• Government developing a web portal to enable citizens
to register to vote online
• Data from the secure web portal will be ‘matched’
against DWP data
• Results of the ‘matching’ exercise will be accessible to
authorities to determine issue of HEF/IER forms
Additional details
•
Any IER application received at any time during the year will be subject to
the personal identifiers verification process (data matching with DWP
data)
•
IER forms can be sent out at any time of the year
•
HEF will be pre-populated with names of electors currently registered at
the address
•
Government commitment to fully fund IER implementation
•
Government aim for transition to IER fully complete by 2016 BUT may
amend to 2015 dependent on progress made and ease of transition
Potential issues
• Increased resources required:
- rolling canvass
- data matching resources (DWP and Local data)
- increased mailing out of forms
- increased canvassing
• Less people registering- reluctance to provide personal
information
• Accessing hard to reach groups
• Lack of public awareness of IER
Current / Imminent Issues
• AGMA collaboration on IER
• Cabinet Office Workshops
• Cabinet Office/Electoral Commission guidance
• Cabinet Office training roll-out
• EMS supplier training
Key 2013 timescales
Issue
Timescale
Confirmation of Salford’s
transition funding provision for
IER implementation
March 2013- £9, 858
Roll out and testing of EMS
enhancements for IER
April-June 2013
Electoral Commission issue
guidance on planning for
transition
June 2013
Completion of first IER
Implementation Progress Report
for Cabinet Office
June 2013
Key 2013 timescales
Issue
Timescale
Confirmation dry run
July/August 2013
Completion of 2nd IER
Implementation Progress Report
September 2013
Cabinet Office complete
Readiness Assessment for all
authorities
October 2013
Delayed Canvass commences
October 2013 - March 2014
Cabinet Office confirm whether
transition to IER can go ahead
based on readiness of authorities
8 November 2013
Key 2014 timescales
Issue
Timescale
May/June
Local/European Elections (Dates
tbc- likely to be 22nd May 2014)
1 July 2014
IER ‘Go Live’
1 December 2014
Publication of first IER register
Any Questions?