Genealogy Chat

There are a lot of questions asked on GR boards about Electoral registers but unfortunately some of the enquirers seem to think that they are some form of census substitute, they are not.

An electoral register is simply a list of those people who live at a particular address who were entitled to vote in either local and/or national elections. To understand the implication of this it is necessary to know a bit about electoral history. Basically although registers of voters have been around in one form or another for a very long time it was not until 1918 that all males aged over 21 who were born in the United Kingdom or Ireland were accorded the vote. Under the same act of parliament, women over the age of 30 were also granted the vote but they were subject to certain restrictions relating to property ownership or marital status which effectively meant that perhaps as many as 60% of women over 30 were still denied voting rights and did not therefore appear on the ER. The Representation of the People act in 1928 corrected this and from that time all females over the age of 21 were granted voting rights. Today the age for eligibility is 18 and also includes citizens of the European Union and Commonwealth countries who are permanent residents within the UK.

Electoral registers can only be searched by a property address, not by a persons name. The detail that you will find includes just the forename and surname of the voter. No detail is included about age, birthplace or family relationships to whoever else is named at the same address. During wartime electoral registers were suspended so there are years when none were compiled.

Copies of old registers are usually to be found either at the main public library or the records/archive office in the area that the ER covered. Generally speaking you will not find them online but they may be viewed during a personal visit. The staff at some libraries or offices are sometimes willing to do a look up for you if a visit is not possible. Some authorities make a charge for this service, others don’t so ask first.

More recent ER’s, 2003 onwards, are available online but only through websites such as www.192.com who charge for the information they provide. It should also be noted that nowadays voters can, if they wish, opt out of having their details being included on the publicly available register. There is a possibility therefore that you will not find out who lived at a particular address.

N.B. The more recent online electoral rolls are searchable by name as the names have been scanned and indexed.

I would just add that the recent on-line registers are also indexed by name.

On recent registers you can find some people's ages, as those who become eligible to vote during the validity of the register have the relevant date (i.e. their 18th birthday) indicated. But that's all, and it doesn't prove anything about relationships.

Sorry I'm late, uncle Jonesey, but I've been to see Santa and the Christmas lights in Plymouth. I found a list of names of the people who sailed in the Mayflower as they supposedly spent their last night in England at the building which now houses the Plymouth gin distillery.
But thanks for this tip as I'm sure it will extend my bumbling, but ever improving, research.
love
Jill

Jill,

You are excused since your absence involved history but I guess that it might just have been an excuse for you to visit a gin distillery. (lol)

As you probably now know the captain of the Mayflower was Christopher Jones (No relation).

I'm very tired uncle Jonesey (hic) I really must close down.
night night
love
Jill

:-D :-D :-D

Question about the UK/England/London etc Electoral Registers..

Do you know how often they were updated?

In Australia we often find people listed at an address which they had actually left years before,,,,,but had neglected to inform the Elect Commission of a move/new address...
Same with some deaths...People die and can still show on Rolls for a few years....as noone had informed the Elect Commission..

Do the other Countries Elect Rolls suffer the same "lag" (for want of a better word)??

Kellie

In the UK a form is sent out to all housholds around September and is to cover those resident on about 10th October. (I'm not sure if that is a fixed date).

It is usually pre-filled with the previous year's data, but the householder has to sign that all the information is still correct.

The roll is published a couple of months later. Some years ago it was avaiiable to see in the local post offices, but these days access is more discreet.

As far as I know there is no set time period for updating electoral registers but they are updated quite regularly prior to local or national elections, sometimes annually.

A form or card is sent or delivered to every residential address and it is a requirement of law that this is completed. The return can be returned in one of several ways including online. If no return is made a personal visit by someone appointed by the local council is made to the address in order to obtain the information. No return means no vote.

In England although the household information has to be supplied it is possible to have the information excluded from the version of the electoral register which is sold on to commercial organisations such as www.192.com who in turn sell information from the electoral register to anyone prepared to pay for it. Because of this not everyone who is eligible to vote appears on the commercially available list.

There will always be examples of people who move address or die between the collection of the data. Because of the frequency of the data collection however the latest electoral register should always be reasonably accurate, not years out of date as you describe the situation in Australia.

The qualifying date is the 15th October,

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/UKgovernment/Politicalpartiesandelections/DG_073239

Thanks.
We have a 3year thingy here and even thn not always accurate...or uptodate

Kellie

Do not know about them being pre-filled in and having to update adjust

Our came last year and all that was prefilled was name & address. So lucky me had 2 people to fill in data for, me and OH. He just would not have bothered.

Our form (prefilled with last years data) came yesterday with a note saying that as there is a vote on 15 Nov this year they want to complete the electoral rolls in good time. The qualifying date is 15th October. If there is no change you can confirm by internet frephone or text (SMS).

:-)

Nudges :-D :-D

Note that this year the rule on opting out has changed. You have to opt out of having your name made public specifically every year. It doesn't automatically stay the same as last year.