Will Gordon Brown disenfranchise me?
Okay, I accept that the chicken entrails are all currently indicating an autumn election. Iain Dale and Vicky Ford have just made me realise something: am I going to lose my vote to suit Gordon Brown’s agenda?
I moved house back in January and dutifully filled in the registration form this summer (okay, okay, with some prodding, I admit). But with the new canvass not set to come on stream until December, I’ll be one of those awkward people who find themselves between two registers.
A November election will be a miserable one; it is no surprise that most Scottish Labour MPs are loath to have one (hat tip: Jonathan Calder). With Brown only calling it if it is to be a forgone conclusion (as best as he can tell), the question will be not so much whether we have a low turnout but how low can the turnout get. Will this be the first UK General Election to have a turnout of less than 50 per cent?
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September 28th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
If you filled the form in in January, why weren’t you picked up by rolling registration?
September 28th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Because he didn’t fill in the form in January he waited for the canvass.
While I think there are a numberof arguments against an autumn election James’ lack of administrative finesse isn’t one of them!
September 28th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Bah.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
IIRC they re-open registration when the election is called (not for long but they do do it).
Theo
PS. Yes, it was me at the Labour conference on Tuesday
September 29th, 2007 at 9:20 am
According to the Electoral Commission website the Electoral Register for use in any General Election between now and November 30th is the one in place on 1 September 2007. It is already to late to get signed in under the rolling procedure.
James, are you de-registered under your old address? You may still have the right to vote as from there.
October 1st, 2007 at 1:04 pm
That’s not quite accurate (I guess it might be clarified elsewhere on the EC site?). If a general election is called, the rolling register effectively reopens for 11 (I think) days.
October 1st, 2007 at 3:19 pm
The last day for getting on the register for May’s local elections this year was Wednesday 18th (the Wednesday before eve of poll).