Consultation outcome

Anonymous registration: Protecting voters at risk

• From: Northern Ireland Office and The Rt Hon Sir Mike Penning MP
• Published: 11 September 2013
• Last updated: 24 February 2014 — See all updates

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

This consultation has concluded

Download the full outcome

Consultation response: Anonymous registration - protecting voters at risk in Northern Ireland

PDF, 317 KB, 20 pages

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Detail of outcome

This document sets out the government’s response to comments received about draft legislation which would introduce anonymous registration in Northern Ireland.

Anonymous registration would enable vulnerable individuals to vote without the risk of being traced via the full electoral register. It was first introduced in Great Britain in 2007.

A number of comments were made on the legislation proposed for Northern Ireland, including in relation to:

• the list of individuals able to attest applications
• the length of time for which an individual would be entitled to register anonymously
• the impact of the change on transparency of political party funding
• equality issues.

The government expects the new legislation to come into force on 15 September 2014. It would apply to elections to the UK parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly, European parliament and local councils.

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Original consultation

Summary

A consultation on draft legislation which would introduce anonymous electoral registration in Northern Ireland.

This consultation ran from
11 September 2013 to 11:45pm on 23 October 2013

Consultation description

The legislation would enable vulnerable individuals to vote without the risk of being traced via the full electoral register. This would address concerns from those whose personal safety may be compromised if their details were publicly accessible.

The proposed legislation is consistent with the system introduced in Great Britain in 2007, although a small number of differences would apply in Northern Ireland, namely:

• The legislation would permit eligible applicants to register to vote anonymously for five years, rather than one year as in Great Britain.
• Anonymous individuals would be required to vote by post because the use of identity checks at polling stations in Northern Ireland means that a ballot paper cannot be obtained without photographic identification.

The government expects the new legislation to come into force in June 2014. It would apply to elections to the UK parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly, European Parliament and local councils.

Documents

Draft legislation: Anonymous registration - protecting voters at risk in Northern Ireland

PDF, 3.82 MB, 57 pages

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Request an accessible format.

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Published 11 September 2013
Last updated 24 February 2014 + show all updates

1. 24 February 2014

   Outcome published

2. 11 September 2013

   First published.