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<p>The Government has no plans to create an online electoral registration checking
tool. Registers are held locally rather than centrally. There would be major technical,
security and privacy issues around consolidating the registers to allow a live registration
check, especially given that a checking tool would require an elector to prove their
identity in the course of making an application. The investment costs required to
overcome these barriers would significantly outweigh the cost of processing duplicates.</p><p>The
Government nevertheless recognises that duplicate registrations represent a burden
to administrators and that this may be the case in particular at the time of major
elections. We are currently examining evidence collected during the recent general
election to understand the scale of this issue and to identify more practicable solutions
than a checking tool. For example, there may be the potential for improvements to
the online journey to reduce duplicates. It may also be possible to exploit electoral
management software systems to improve duplicate processing. The Government is taking
forward this work with the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Scottish Assessors
Association and the Electoral Commission.</p><p>At the same time, it is clear that
online registration has led to a boost in registration levels. Compared to other means
of increasing registration, such as the issuing of Household Notification Letters
in advance of polls, online registration is highly cost efficient, even accounting
for duplicate applications.</p>
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