Response 1799823

Response to request for information

Reference

1799823

Response date

29 June 2023

Request

Under the terms of the Elections Act 2022 and the Amendments of RPA 1983, voters in your local authority were entitled to apply for a Voter Registration Certificate either online, by post or in person, in advance of the local elections held on May 4th, 2023.

My request is for the number of people in your local authority who applied for a Voter Registration Certificate before the election on May 4 2023, and/or the number of Voter Registration Certificates which were issued ahead of May 4 2023.

Response

I refer to your request for information received on 9 June 2023 and would advise you that the registration of electors is governed by the Representation of the People Act 1983 as amended. Under Section 8 of the Act, the council must appoint an officer of the council to be the registration officer for any constituency or part of a constituency coterminous with or situated in the council’s area. Katherine Marriott (Chief Executive) is the appointed officer for the registration area of the District of Rushcliffe. Her appointment as Electoral Registration Officer is separate to her appointment as Chief Executive and, although appointed by the council, the Electoral Registration Officer’s responsibilities and duties are personal. An example of this is that the register of electors is deemed to be the property of the Electoral Registration Officer, not the local authority.

The Electoral Registration Officer does not carry out the duties on behalf of the local authority but in her own personal capacity. A list of public bodies and local authorities that are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act is available.

As you will see, the Freedom of Information Act does not list any person appointed under the Representation of the People Act 1983. It follows that the Electoral Registration Officer, Returning Officer or any other person appointed under the Act are not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

Notwithstanding that there is no statutory obligation to provide this information, the Electoral Services Section have considered your request and, if the information is readily accessible it is provided below:

1. An application for a Voter Authority Certificate is made to the ERO and not the council (in accordance with Section 13BD (2) of the Representation of the People Act 1983). The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) have confirmed that ‘issued’ requires the VAC be printed by the government contracted printer once determined by the ERO. Therefore, the council has not issued or

rejected any VACs as it is not within their remit to. There is no requirement on EROs to record how many VACs applications have been received or how many have been issued and we do not hold this information. However there is a performance dashboard available with information on applications received across the UK and various statistical information since the system went live on 16 January. 

The information isn’t broken down into local authority area.