Public left confused as wrong people sent information about registering to vote

Mailings intended to tell people who have recently moved how to get on the electoral register have mistakenly been going out to people who have not moved in years.

A circular from the Electoral Commission sent to councils around the country explains,

As you will be aware, the Commission is currently running a campaign to encourage home movers to register to vote. It has become apparent that there is a problem with one of the data sources being used for the campaign, resulting in some people who have not recently moved home being sent the mailing in error. We are investigating this problem with our data supplier as a matter of urgency.

We are aware that this has caused distress for some recipients of the mailing and that they have contacted their local authorities with enquiries or complaints about the mailing.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience this is causing.

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This entry was posted in Election law.
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2 Comments

  • Anthony Aloysius St 17th Feb '10 - 11:07pm

    People are “distressed” because they’ve been sent a letter telling them how to register to vote? How would they feel if something really bad happened?

  • Sophia Pangloss 18th Feb '10 - 9:28am

    I get yer point Mr Aloysius, yes worse things could happen. However, having received one of these missives myself, I briefly wondered if our creaking electoral bureaucracy had indeed lost my vote. Disenfranchisement is a huge problem, (for the governed not the government) and a system which becomes less trusted by the day breeds these feelings of insecurity.
    After a second thought I judged it more likely that the Electoral Commission had cocked-up in sending the letter, and that my vote is more likely to reside here long after I have moved away, or even popped my clogs. I stopped fretting.

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