7 October (Part 1) - Beware the Electoral Registration trap
My Electoral Registration form was delivered on Friday and I was surprised to
see that the Edited Register box was not ticked, I felt sure it was delivered
ticked in previous years but assumed I must be getting forgetful. Not only that,
the new guidance note implies that the omission of the tick is deliberate.
Then the messages started to trickle in, I was far from being alone, lots of
people believed that their opt out from the version of the Electoral Roll which
is sold to marketing companies used to be carried forward from one year to the
next. So watch out when you complete your form!
If you do the natural modern thing and renew your registration on line or via
SMS, the tick omission will be perpetuated. If there is no tick on your form,
and indications are that that is the new norm, and you don’t want your details
sold on to all and sundry, then you will have to send the form back in the
provided envelope. It might be a good idea to include a note to the effect that
your decision should be regarded as permanent. The guidance note allows that.
I’m tempted to think this is a cynical ploy to raise revenue and perhaps I
should check things with the authorities but they have carelessly printed an
incomplete phone number on the Bexley form.