Oral Answers to Questions

John Glen Excerpts

Thursday 26th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Streeter]

My hon. Friend makes an important point, but I am afraid that it is not a matter for the Electoral Commission.

[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

5. What assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the effectiveness of its recent campaign to increase voter registration.

[Mr Streeter]

The Electoral Commission’s recent campaign was targeted at audiences, including home movers, individuals from black and minority ethnic communities, students and service voters. The full evaluation of this year’s campaign will be made available in the summer, but initial indications are that during this campaign, there were more than 500,000 visits to the commission’s “About My Vote” website and more than 100,000 registration forms were ordered or downloaded.

[John Glen]

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply, and I think the adverts were excellent. What role, however, does the Electoral Commission have in ensuring that electoral registration officers play their part in making sure that people who cannot easily be reached are able to register?

[Mr Streeter]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Although we have all seen the Electoral Commission’s TV adverts encouraging people to register to vote, it is the day-to-day task of electoral registration officers in each locality to maximise voter registration. Performance can be patchy, and the Electoral Commission is working with the poorest performing EROs to try to support them in doing a better job.