I received a form in the mail today, asking me to verify voter registration eligibility for anyone living at this residence. The inside of the form had a 14 digit security code on it. I could either complete the paper form and mail it back or complete it via the internet. If everything on the form was already correct, that could be verified with a quick phone call or text message.
The letter did warn me that if I didn't provide the information requested, I could be fined £1000. THAT seems harsh!!! Well, thank goodness I actually opened up the envelope instead of throwing it in the recycling bin, like I normally do with things that arrive addressed to The Occupier. I don't know how often such fines are actually assessed, but since I live in this country by the good grace of Her Majesty The Queen, I try to be careful about following all of her laws and rules.
(Speaking of HM The Queen, her great-grandson might be one of the cutest little boys on the entire planet. This photo is much more interesting than my "Your vote matters" letter anyways. Happy 2nd Birthday, Prince George!)
Back to boring voting stuff --
So I logged in to the website and very quickly and easily provided the information that none of the residents are eligible to vote because of their nationality, American.
Here's the part that I like -- the previous occupiers hadn't updated their voter registration, and the Council's Electoral Registration office still showed them eligible to vote at this address. With a few clicks of my mouse, I was able to remove them from my address and indicate that they no longer live here. Boom. They are now ineligible to vote until they update their registration wherever they live now.
Apparently, this is happening because the UK voter registration law is changing. Currently, UK voter registration is done by household, with one person in the household filling in a form that registers everyone in that household at the same time. Now, everyone will need to register themselves individually, so local elections offices have to go through all of their records to confirm who and where people are.
The whole process seems to be pretty tight and secure to prevent electoral fraud. I'm impressed.
Two things that strike me as different/strange about the UK electoral process compared to the USA --
1. The UK electoral register is used for checking credit applications. Really? Maybe it's done in the USA, too, and I just never knew about it. I guess voting registration files are public records. Huh.
2. Commonwealth and European Union citizens who are resident in the UK are eligible to vote in UK elections. Commonwealth and Republic of Ireland citizens can vote in general elections. EU citizens can vote in elections for local government and the European parliament. I remember discussing this with an Irish friend of mine in regards to the May elections. Ireland won independence in 1922 after a bloody war, and they left the Commonwealth in 1949, but they still get to vote in the UK if they live here. My Irish friend seemed to think this was totally fair and all good. I personally just cannot wrap my head around the notion of non-citizens voting in a country's elections. It's a totally different paradigm.
All of this electoral stuff should get very interesting to watch as Britain gets ready for their planned referendum on EU membership.
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