Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of options to introduce an automatic system of electoral registration for all eligible citizens; and if he will make a statement.

There are no plans to introduce automatic registration, as it contradicts the principles underpinning Individual Electoral Registration. Making an application to register to vote is the right of individuals and can be done easily online, in as little as three minutes, as well as using the traditional paper form, if people prefer. The 2017 UK parliamentary general election was fought on the largest ever register, according to initial estimates.

The Government has a wide-ranging programme of work with electoral administrators to maximise the benefits of IER. This includes looking at innovative ways of using local datasets to simplify registration. Some of these are already being trialled as part of the 2017 annual canvass.