Home Department written question – answered at on 16 January 2008.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK in (a) 1997 and (b) at the most recent date for which an estimate is available; what estimate she has made of the number of Commonwealth citizens registered to vote in the UK; which Commonwealth countries have reciprocal rights for voting with the UK; and what checks are carried out on the immigration status of applicants for electoral registration.
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question on what estimate has been made of the number of Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK in (a) 1997 and (b) at the most recent date for which an estimate is available; what estimate has been made of the number of commonwealth citizens registered to vote in the UK; which Commonwealth countries have reciprocal rights for voting in the UK; and what checks are carried out on the immigration status of applicants for electoral registration. I am replying in her absence.
(177394)
In 1997, there were an estimated 695,000 Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK. In 2006, the corresponding estimate was 1,112,000. These estimates are based on Labour Force Survey data and, as with any sample survey data, are subject to margins of error.
With respect to Commonwealth citizens registered to vote, data separately identifying British, Irish, or Commonwealth citizens are not collected centrally; these citizens are grouped together on local authority electoral returns. Therefore we are unable to produce data on voter registration separately for Commonwealth citizens.
With respect to which Commonwealth countries have reciprocal rights for voting in the UK, the Ministry of Justice advise that this information is not held centrally. In respect of the UK, the Representation of the People Act 1983 provides that all Commonwealth citizens who are lawfully resident here are entitled to vote in parliamentary and local elections. Decisions about the voting rights of Commonwealth, including British, citizens resident in other Commonwealth countries are for the individual countries concerned.
With respect to checks on immigration status, the Ministry of Justice advise that all electors are required to state their nationality on the canvass form when registering to vote. Furthermore, electoral registers are available for public inspection and anyone who believes that an ineligible person has been included may object and notify the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) who may then make further inquiries as to the eligibility of that individual.
The Electoral Administration Act strengthened this process by:
allowing any individual to object to another person's registration details at any time; allowing an ERO to initiate and conduct a review of a person's registration at any time; creating a new criminal offence of supplying false information or failing to supply information to the electoral registration officer at any time; and giving the police more time to carry out investigations into electoral fraud (they may apply to court to have the normal one year limit for bringing prosecutions increased to two years, so long as there has been no undue delay in the investigation).
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