Voter Registration Fears

There are fears as many as 800-thousand people may not be eligible to vote in the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections.

Many face being removed from the voters roll due to new regulations based on moving from a household canvass to an individual voter.

More than 302 thousand people in Fife registered to take part in September's independence referendum.

Mr Gibson, SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross has now written to Amy O’Neill, head of the Electoral Commission Office in Scotland, seeking clarity on this and expressing concern at the manner in which people are being contacted.

Mr Gibson said:

“One of the great successes of last year’s referendum was the level of engagement and voter participation that swept across every community in the weeks and months before September 18.

“Never before have so many people signed up to have their say in the democratic process in Scotland - it is vitally important that we aim to retain this level of voter participation.

“The Electoral Commission’s transition from a household canvass of voters to individual registration in Glasgow alone has seen 100,000 fewer voters registered so far - and this could mount to 800,000 across Scotland if new means are not found to encourage voter registration in good time for the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary election.

“The letter I received from my local Electoral Registration Office did not make clear what elections this reregistration would impact on. It only informed me that I could not be re-registered because my date of birth and National Insurance Number were not sufficient identifiers. This letter was worded in an unnecessarily unhelpful way – I would urge a more open and engaging approach.

“I look forward to hearing back form the Electoral Commission; I hope they too share these concerns and can detail me with plans which will alleviate fears that the great expansion of our democracy in Scotland faces being reversed by current procedures.”

Linda Bissett, Electoral Registration Officer explained:
 
“The new Fife electoral register won’t be published until 27th February and so it is not yet possible to make a comparison with the number of electors on the current published register.
 
All those who returned a household canvass form in 2013/14 year under the previous form of registration will remain on the register until at least the end of 2015.
 
All Electoral Registration Officers in Scotland are aware of the potential for under-registration in terms of the new Individual Electoral Registration (IER) arrangements  and are doing all they can to maximise registration.  All Fife residents on the current register will have received a letter from me in October last year explaining what, if anything, they need to do next and I would encourage those who have been asked to complete and return a new registration form to do so as quickly as possible.”