Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications for participation in the democratic processes as a consequence of reports that 8000,000 names have dropped off the electoral roll following the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has now published the statistics for the December 2015 electoral registers. The full report can be found here:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/elections/electoralregistration/bulletins/electoralstatisticsforuk/2015
The number of entries on a register is not a measure of success – entries need to be up-to-date and accurate. That is why completing the transition to Individual Electoral Registration was so important; it meant we could remove out of date or inaccurate entries from the register and retain those that had already been confirmed as genuine. Any eligible elector missing from the register can apply to register to vote at any time and with online registration it is now easier and more convenient than ever before.