Removed from Register of Electors - Reason "Marriage"

lucylu

Hi,
I got a letter in the post from my local County Council to say I was removed from the Register of Electors for the following reason "Marriage"
I got married a few years ago and have kept my maiden name.

Two years ago we got a new voting card for a guy called Niall eligible to vote who never existed. After emails and phone calls Niall was removed over 6 months, however there was voting spam for him in this years local elections
Last year my mother was taken of it for "unknown" reasons, and my husband & I got a voting card for another bogus voter with my mothers first name and my husbands surname. After emails and phone calls Mam was re-added and in Feburary rang and emailed the CC in relation to the bogus voter, however they were still on the Registars list when we went to vote on Lisbon. Eventually on Friday the bogus voter got a letter to say they will remove them.

It is quite obvious that they removed my mothers name thinking that she married my husband.
I am disgusted to think that just because I got married, my Surname automatically changes and therefore I am removed from the Register.

I really want to complain about this.
Anyone know who I should direct this to?
The CC in question too offence last time when my mother rang to sort her vote out when she asked why she was removed with the reason "unknown" so I want to go to some higher authority...

Regards
Lucylu

Dannyboy83

So they are removing real people and adding imaginary people.
Sorry but I have to laugh:pac::pac:

I also have to admit, I'm a bit suspicious.
When we were in 3rd Year Computer Science, we made a system that could handle this with relative ease in the space of 6 months, including Internet Based Voting.

It makes me wonder what these guys do all day.

Scofflaw

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

So they are removing real people and adding imaginary people.
Sorry but I have to laugh:pac::pac:

I also have to admit, I'm a bit suspicious.
When we were in 3rd Year Computer Science, we made a system that could handle this with relative ease in the space of 6 months, including Internet Based Voting.

It makes me wonder what these guys do all day.

To be fair, they try to create exactly such a system - but through an incredibly tortuous process of consensus where every i must be dotted and every t crossed in a way specified in a requirements document that is itself the product of a hundred consensus-seeking meetings, and in the teeth of entrenched factional/departmental politics, ignorance, suspicion, brutally stubborn change resistance, diffused and vague responsibility, and a thousand special interests, morally supported only by the knowledge that even if by some incredible fluke it does actually work out OK, it won't make their jobs any easier, increase their pay, or change their probability of redundancy by an iota.

That's kind of the difference between doing something in CompSci and the Civil Service.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Dannyboy83

Scofflaw wrote: »

To be fair, they try to create exactly such a system - but through an incredibly tortuous process of consensus where every i must be dotted and every t crossed in a way specified in a requirements document that is itself the product of a hundred consensus-seeking meetings, and in the teeth of entrenched factional/departmental politics, ignorance, suspicion, brutally stubborn change resistance, diffused and vague responsibility, and a thousand special interests, morally supported only by the knowledge that even if by some incredible fluke it does actually work out OK, it won't make their jobs any easier, increase their pay, or change their probability of redundancy by an iota.

That's kind of the difference between doing something in CompSci and the Civil Service.

cordially,
Scofflaw

LOL, fair point, duely noted.

Riskymove

lucylu wrote: »

I really want to complain about this.
Anyone know who I should direct this to?
The CC in question too offence last time when my mother rang to sort her vote out when she asked why she was removed with the reason "unknown" so I want to go to some higher authority...

Franchise Section
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government

Riskymove

Scofflaw wrote: »

That's kind of the difference between doing something in CompSci and the Civil Service.

The system IS very simple

unfortunately it did not take into account the "human" side of updating the list

there are all sorts of mad goings on and some local authorites are worse than others

Colm R

Riskymove wrote: »

there are all sorts of mad goings on and some local authorites are worse than others

And this is why it needs to be removed from the control of the councils and centralised. There is too much overlap, and unnecessary paperwork. I'm currently registered in 3 places, moving my vote as I moved over a 7 year period.

What I've wondered is, would it be possible to implement the system in tandem with the PPS Number system.

Revenue need to know where you live and hence keep you update them.
Revenue is a government agency.
So if Revenue know where you live, why should another Government not use the same system and use it to keep track of where your vote should be?

Thinking about it - having it spread out across all councils ensured that corruption, if it happened would be on a small scale. But now, with auditing technology, it might be better to centralise it.

The only thing I'm wondering is - is there a flaw in my case for using the PPS number.

BroomBurner

Colm R wrote: »

The only thing I'm wondering is - is there a flaw in my case for using the PPS number.

The Data Protection Act does not allow the sharing of personal information to be passed from one department to another.

Odilon Redon

BroomBurner wrote: »

The Data Protection Act does not allow the sharing of personal information to be passed from one department to another.

...which is why the proposed legislation to set up an Electoral Commission to deal with among other things voter registration will most likely make specific provision for the use of PPSNs as personal identifiers. There would then be no Data Protection issue.

Incidentally, any complaint should go to the Ombudsman. The Department would only say its a matter for the council.