Copies of the electoral register have been available for purchase by the private sector since 1832. In November 2001, that long running practice ceased due to the decision of the Court in Robertson’s case. The High Court held that the rights contained in the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998 meant a voter must be able to register to vote without his details being included in the version of the electoral register that was able to be sold. The decision was not popular with the private sector as it used the electoral register for a variety of purposes including direct marketing and credit referencing.

In mid July, 2002 the UK government passed regulations which will again allow access to the electoral register. The new regulations provide for two registers known as the "full register" and the "edited register". The "full register" will contain the details of all registered voters. Availability and use of the full register is tightly regulated and is essentially limited to electoral purposes and security and law enforcement. Credit reference agencies will also have access but only for the purposes of providing identity checks and evaluating applications for credit on behalf of banks. It will be a criminal offence to either use an unauthorised copy of the full register or for an authorised holder to use it for an unauthorised purpose. Although public display of the full register will still occur it must be supervised and copying is prohibited apart from hand written notes.

The "edited register" can be purchased by anyone and used for any purpose and is due to be first available in December 2002. Electors can opt-out of having their names and addresses appear on the edited register. An opt-out box will now appear on the annual voter registration forms and voters can also contact their local electoral registration officer throughout the year. Other than the omission of those electors who have opted out, the edited register will be identical to the full register.

Please click through for a copy of the new Regulations.

© Herbert Smith 2002

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