Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to ensure that victims of domestic abuse and other victims of serious violence are aware that they can reregister to vote anonymously.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Electors who need to keep their name and address anonymous are able to submit an application for anonymous registration. As part of their application, electors must satisfy the Electoral Registration Officer that their safety, or that of people they live with, would be at risk if the register contained their name and address. For this purpose electors must provide either a court order or an attestation by a “qualifying officer”, which includes senior police officers and chief social workers. The evidential threshold for applications for anonymous electoral registration is to ensure that it is available only to those whose personal safety would genuinely be at risk if their details appeared on the electoral register. Domestic violence charities and other Non-Government Organisations may partner with Individual Electoral Registration Officers to ensure those in their area who may need to register anonymously are able to do so.