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There was submitted a report by the Assessor & Electoral Registration Officer relative to the current position in relation to electoral registration.
In relation to the 2022 canvass, the report intimated that the canvass commenced on 4 July 2022 with the publication of the revised register due to take place by 1 December 2022; the start of the canvass national data matching of the register to DWP records took place on 6 June 2022, with local data matching following; where an email address was held, the initial contact would be by email and if no response was received, this would be followed up by letter with the final stage being household visits where no response had been received. It was noted that where all the electors in a household were data matched, a CCA letter had been issued and that this letter did not require a response unless the information was incorrect. A total of 101,639 CCA letters had been issued. In circumstances where not all the electors in a household were data matched, a CCB letter had been issued which required a response and 39,680 CCB letters had been issued. The final stage of the canvass was a visit to a property for those households where a response was required but not received. The report noted that this stage began in August 2022 and would involve visits to 23,246 properties and as at 8 November 2022, only 1,132 visits had still to be completed.
The report noted that no other elections were scheduled, however, this would be kept under review and staff would be able to deliver should circumstances require.
In relation to the Elections Act 2022, the report advised that the Act received Royal Ascent on 28 April 2022 with the provisions of the Act coming in force at various times. It was noted that the main provisions that would impact the Joint Board would be the requirement for voter ID and the postal voting application process for UK Parliamentary election and changes to the eligibility to be registered as an overseas voter. The secondary legislation which detailed how the new voter ID measures would work in practice had been laid before the UK Parliament on 3 November 2022, with this requirement applying in Scotland to UK Parliamentary by-elections from early May 2023 and to UK Parliamentary general elections taking place after 5 October 2023. It was noted that applications for the voter authority certificate (VAC) could be made online or by a paper application form from early January 2023 and would only be required if an elector did not have another approved form of photo ID as set out in the Act. Work was being undertaken to ensure that the online application portal, being created by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, was fit for purpose and was compatible with the Joint Board’s electoral management system to allow applications to be processed efficiently. Details of the funding for this new burden were expected in the near future.
In relation to the absent vote identifier refresh, the report noted that there would be approximately 6,300 signature refresh notices issued to electors who had a postal or proxy vote where the signature on record was more than five years old.
On behalf of the Joint Board, the Convener thanked staff for the work undertaken.
DECIDED:
(a) That the contents of the report be noted; and
(b) That the Assessor & Electoral Registration Officer submit a report to a future meeting of the Joint Board in relation to the funding received from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.