The Electoral Commission, as the independent electoral regulator, holds responsibility for issuance of guidance on electoral registration, voting and second homes.<\/p>
This can be found at: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voting-and-elections/who-can-vote/other-registration-options/voting-and-second-homes<\/a>.<\/p> A person is entitled to be registered as a parliamentary elector for a constituency - or in the case of local elections, as a local government elector for an electoral area - if on the date they submit their application they meet the criteria for registration.<\/p> Those criteria include a requirement (except, regarding Parliamentary elections, in respect of a British citizen living overseas) that the applicant is resident in the constituency or electoral area. It is for the Electoral Registration Officer to determine whether the applicant meets this residency requirement by reference to the factors set out in section 5 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (and in some cases sections 6 to 7C of that Act also). Ownership of a property is not sufficient on its own, the ERO must determine that an individual is resident. Case law suggests this will involve a degree of permanence.<\/p> This means that some citizens are entitled to register to vote in respect of more than one address in certain circumstances.<\/p> However, it may be noted that it is a criminal offence for a registered elector to vote more than once in the same constituency at a parliamentary election or in the same electoral division or ward at a local government election. It is also a criminal offence for a registered elector to vote in more than one constituency at a parliamentary general election, or in more than once electoral division or ward at an ordinary election of councillors for county, London Borough or district.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4494", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Simon Hoare"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North Dorset"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Simon Hoare"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-04-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-04-24T15:06:00.37Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "211"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Levelling Up, Housing and Communities"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Levelling Up, Housing and Communities"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-04-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electoral Register"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department or the predecessor Department has issued on registration on the electoral roll when an elector (a) owns and (b) resides in more than one property.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4814", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jonathan Gullis"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Stoke-on-Trent North"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Jonathan Gullis"}
], "uin" : "22177"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1698888", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1698888/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " Individual Electoral Registration (IER), introduced in 2014, brought registering to vote into the 21st<\/sup> century by making it possible to register to vote online in as little as three minutes. It also ensured that every individual had control and ownership over the process.<\/p> The UK Government has no plans to reassess its policy with regards to automatic voter registration, as to do so would risk undermining the principle of individuals taking ownership of registering to vote.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4494", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Simon Hoare"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North Dorset"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Simon Hoare"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-04-15", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-04-15T15:41:57.793Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "211"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Levelling Up, Housing and Communities"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Levelling Up, Housing and Communities"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-03-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electoral Register"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an automatic voter registration system for elections.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4432", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Patrick Grady"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Glasgow North"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Patrick Grady"}
], "uin" : "20675"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1675078", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1675078/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " In 2014, the then Coalition introduced Individual Electoral Registration. The Government has no plans to reassess its policy with regard to automatic voter registration for resident UK citizens or for registering UK citizens living abroad. The electoral system in the United Kingdom is trust based and voting is not mandatory. The Government opposes automatic voter registration because such a system would risk increasing errors and inaccuracies in the registers.<\/p> The Government understands that the Welsh Government is planning to trial automatic registration for devolved elections and will be paying close attention to any unintended or negative effects on registration for reserved elections.<\/p> The UK Government is working with the Electoral Commission to amplify its messaging to increase awareness of the forthcoming removal of the 15-year limit on British citizens\u2019 living abroad and their eligibility to register and vote in UK Parliamentary elections.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4494", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Simon Hoare"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North Dorset"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Simon Hoare"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-12-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "5042"}
, {"_value" : "5044"}
, {"_value" : "5045"}
], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-12-11T17:22:10.133Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "211"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Levelling Up, Housing and Communities"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Levelling Up, Housing and Communities"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2023-12-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electoral Register"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he last made an assessment of the potential merits of Automatic Voter Registration as a means of improving the accuracy of the electoral register.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4934", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Helen Morgan"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North Shropshire"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Helen Morgan"}
], "uin" : "5043"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1625965", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1625965/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " As required by paragraph 34 of part 7 of the Voter Identification Regulations 2022<\/a>, polling station staff were required to collect data regarding the use of identification. This information will be returned to Government and the Electoral Commission in due course, as set out in the UQ response on the floor of the House on 27 April 2023 (Official Report, HC, Volume 731, Column 919<\/a>).<\/p>