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Register to vote for the General Election
(www.gov.uk)
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this post was submitted on 22 May 2024
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UK Politics
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General Discussion for politics in the UK.
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Stupid question, but do you have to register in advance to be able to vote? Why is that? In Germany, every citizen eligible to vote gets the necessary documents automatically by mail.
Worth noting things like jury service are selected from the electoral register. So you are basically opting in to democratic society.
I guess the government would also need to collect citizen data unnecessarily without consent in order to be automatically opted in. The UK is actually kind of libertarian in some aspects in autonomy around identity and right to be known to the government, etc. Although it would be basically impossible to actually function in the society and not be on some form of system, you could probably exist without anything more than your birth being registered.
I've noticed that too. My uncle forgot about all of it in his twenties and heard nothing more until he was contacted about claiming his state pension a few years ago. It's not all bad I guess.
You can kind of have your cake and eat it though. If you just ask HR to provide a letter saying they need you at work, so you need to be excused from jury duty. I've done that like 4 times over 3 workplaces.
Edit: then the other cheat code is asking the assessor if "jury nullification" exists in the UK
It's an offence to refuse to provide your details. It's compulsory, not optional. I've had someone come to my front door and demand I fill in the form.
Wow. Apparently that changed in 2013 as well.
Honestly don't blame folks for not knowing this. With all the voter ID stuff it really was not made clear to the public that a fine was added. Most brits grew up in a system where it was entirly optional.
There really has been no attempt at publishing this change.
It only applies if a registration officer specifically asks you to register. And honestly that has been very rare up to now. Makes me wonder why the tories felt this was needed.
It's not an offence to refuse to register to vote. You sure you weren't being scammed?
https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register
What happens if you do not register
You must register to vote if you’re asked to do so and you meet the conditions for registering, for example you’re 16 or over and you’re British or a national of an EU or Commonwealth country.
If you’re asked to register and do not, you could be fined.
You shouldnt confidently state things that you are uninformed about
Apparently since 2013. Yes it is. Took a while to find the law. So honestly the gov really did not point it out to folks. The ID stuff overrode this change.
It only applies if a registration officer actually asks you to do so. And that request must be given in writing. So honestly I can't help but wonder why they felt the need to add it.
Usually it's one of those things you do when your move house. Every now and again they will send a form to confirm the entries are correct and if nothing has changed you just tick there box and send it back (or reply online). People who move a lot or bounce between two addresses (e.g. students) are usually the ones that drop through the cracks.
Oh so it's basically the same as in Germany, only here you are required to register if you move and it's not called voter registration. Thanks!
You do. I don't know why, really. Sounds like the German system is better!
It used to be automatic, but the Tories changed it. Probably to stop too many students voting for somebody else.
How do the people who send the necessary documents know where to send them and to whom?
You are registered with your name and address by birth and are required to update your information if you move. It's actually pretty close to the UK system I believe, just that it's automatic and not called voter registration.
Yeah we dont have that. Voter registration is the closest we have. Qnd you need to donit every time you move house.
National Insurence IDs are issued at 16 and the gov dose try to keep track on working addresses etc.
But voting is handled by local authorities so you need to inform your authority when you move to an area. If you want them to include you in the voting role. Many forget until an election is due. And some choose not to bother.
In Germany you have 'meldepflicht', but there is no law requiring you to register in the UK.
Oh I hadn't considered that, thanks!
You're talking bollocks.
"What happens if you do not register
You must register to vote if you’re asked to do so and you meet the conditions for registering, for example you’re 16 or over and you’re British or a national of an EU or Commonwealth country.
If you’re asked to register and do not, you could be fined."
-- https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register
Thank you for being so polite.
The question I answered was 'why we have to register to vote'. We have to register to vote, because there is no law requiring you to register where you live - as opposed to Germany where they have 'Meldepflicht', which means you must register with the local authorities when you move. If there was something similar in the UK, then there would be no requirement to register, the necessary documents to vote would be sent automatically.
Can you find a single example of a fine occurring?