Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-06-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to encourage (1) attainers, and (2) all eligible voters, to apply to register to vote online; and, whether they have plans to combine (1) electoral registration, and (2) voting, with incentives such as discounted council tax or local prize-draws.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

UK Youth and Scottish Youth Parliament, who both received a share of the £4.2 million funding for maximising registration, are developing and testing approaches to promote engagement of young people with the democratic process. The Government has made available for free the Rock Enrol! learning resource, and is working with the Higher Education sector to promote on-line registration during course enrolment for students. Over the summer the Electoral Commission will be running a nationwide media campaign which will make prominent reference to the new online registration page.

The Government has no plans to legislate to require Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers to incentivise electoral registration and voting, such as with discounted council tax or prize draws.