What is the purpose of the electoral register?
January 28, 2009 6:20 AM Subscribe
What are the benefits of being on and not being on the electoral register?
And, if I wanted to be completely removed from said electoral register, how would I go about it?
(I'm not looking for advice on whether it's a good idea or not to be on the register. I just want the facts, thanks.)
And, if I wanted to be completely removed from said electoral register, how would I go about it?
(I'm not looking for advice on whether it's a good idea or not to be on the register. I just want the facts, thanks.)
Best answer: Big benefit of being on: positive impact on your credit rating.
Being on the Electoral Register signals to credit rating agencies that you are rooted in your community, and that you're not afraid to let people know how to find you (or something like that.) As a result, not being on the electoral register can have a substantially negative effect on your credit rating in the UK, all else being equal.
I've experienced this firsthand as a relative newcomer. I applied for a credit card to start building a credit rating in the UK, and got rejected. A few weeks later I was registered (with no other financial changes) and bang - banks started actually sending me credit card offers.
posted by generichuman at 6:53 AM on January 28, 2009
Being on the Electoral Register signals to credit rating agencies that you are rooted in your community, and that you're not afraid to let people know how to find you (or something like that.) As a result, not being on the electoral register can have a substantially negative effect on your credit rating in the UK, all else being equal.
I've experienced this firsthand as a relative newcomer. I applied for a credit card to start building a credit rating in the UK, and got rejected. A few weeks later I was registered (with no other financial changes) and bang - banks started actually sending me credit card offers.
posted by generichuman at 6:53 AM on January 28, 2009
Best answer: A lot of places use electoral rolls to select jury pools. Look at that either way.
posted by sanka at 7:01 AM on January 28, 2009
posted by sanka at 7:01 AM on January 28, 2009
Best answer: In the UK, councils sell edited copies of the electoral roll to whomever wants to buy them. Many (most?) of their customers are marketing firms, so if your details are on this version of the roll they'll end up in various marketing companies' mailing lists. I'm not sure how much detail gets passed on - I think it's just name and address.
Removing yourself from the electoral roll will mean you're not in future versions of this list. On its own this isn't a reason to take yourself off the electoral roll though; you can tell your council to take you off the version that gets sold while keeping you on the master document. If you trust the council to actually do this (or spend a few £hundred to buy the CD and check), this should protect your privacy while keeping your voting rights. They don't exactly advertise this fact widely (after all, fewer names on the list means they can't charge as much), but it should be on your local council's website or accessible to whomever picks up their phones.
Also in the UK, jurors are selected from the local electoral roll, so if you remove yourself you'll never be called for jury service. Whether this is a pro or a con is up to you.
posted by metaBugs at 7:43 AM on January 28, 2009 [1 favorite]
Removing yourself from the electoral roll will mean you're not in future versions of this list. On its own this isn't a reason to take yourself off the electoral roll though; you can tell your council to take you off the version that gets sold while keeping you on the master document. If you trust the council to actually do this (or spend a few £hundred to buy the CD and check), this should protect your privacy while keeping your voting rights. They don't exactly advertise this fact widely (after all, fewer names on the list means they can't charge as much), but it should be on your local council's website or accessible to whomever picks up their phones.
Also in the UK, jurors are selected from the local electoral roll, so if you remove yourself you'll never be called for jury service. Whether this is a pro or a con is up to you.
posted by metaBugs at 7:43 AM on January 28, 2009 [1 favorite]
Best answer: If you're not on it, you don't get to vote. For anything. Ever.
If you want to be off it, the most efficient way is to move house and not put your name on the form they send out each year when you're inevitably sent one. If you don't move house and don't fill the form in next time, you'll stay on the register and they won't take you off for some years, if ever.
If you fill out some other random name instead of your own you're committing a criminal offence under the Representation of the People Acts. Don't do that.
posted by genghis at 5:51 PM on January 29, 2009
If you want to be off it, the most efficient way is to move house and not put your name on the form they send out each year when you're inevitably sent one. If you don't move house and don't fill the form in next time, you'll stay on the register and they won't take you off for some years, if ever.
If you fill out some other random name instead of your own you're committing a criminal offence under the Representation of the People Acts. Don't do that.
posted by genghis at 5:51 PM on January 29, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by By The Grace of God at 6:50 AM on January 28, 2009