2015 UK PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION ELECTORAL COMMISSION PARTNERSHIP PACK

Transcription

1 2015 UK PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION ELECTORAL COMMISSION PARTNERSHIP PACK

2 December 2014 Factsheet 2015 UK Parliamentary General Election 7 May 2015 Guide for partners Dear Partner... Thank you for getting involved with our campaign to ensure that all those who are eligible to vote in the UK Parliamentary General Election, referendums and local government elections in England are registered to vote. The ultimate way for people to get their voice heard is to vote. Our message is simple: if you re not registered, you can t vote which means you won t have the chance to have a say on who represents you. This is where you can help. By giving your members, staff, supporters and advocates the information they need to register, you will help ensure they have a voice in future elections. The recent introduction of online registration means it s now easier than ever to register and for you to spread the word. Simply direct people to Check out our guide to seven easy things you can do to help promote voter registration ahead of the general election (see pages 4 5). We need to make sure we re all in. Remember voting is a right and every vote matters! About the election On Thursday 7 May 2015 there will be a UK Parliamentary General Election and local government elections in some parts of England. Voting will take place in all Parliamentary constituencies of the UK to elect Members of Parliament (MPs) and for local councillors in some English local authority areas. We strongly encourage everyone to register as soon as possible. The registration deadline for this general election is Monday 20 April Registering to vote In 2014 Individual Electoral Registration (IER) was introduced. It s a big, important change that will let everyone take responsibility for their own vote. In addition, for the first time ever, people will be able to register online. To vote in an election or referendum, people must be registered to vote. When discussing registering to vote with individuals, you will need to make them aware that they will need their National Insurance number, date of birth and address to register. You can then encourage people to visit It only takes a few minutes to register.

3 The Electoral Commission: The UK Parliamentary General Election Guide for partners Who can register to vote? Anyone aged 16 or over (however, the voting age is 18) British or qualifying * Commonwealth citizens * This means Commonwealth citizens who have leave (permission) to remain in the UK or do not need to have such leave Citizens of the Republic of Ireland or other European Union (EU) member states British citizens living abroad and registered as overseas electors are not eligible to vote in local elections. Additionally, EU citizens resident in the UK can vote in local elections. All EU citizens meet the nationality requirement to register to vote in local government elections. EU citizens (excluding the UK, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta) are not eligible to vote in UK Parliamentary elections. To register as an overseas elector, expatriates must have been registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years. What is an Electoral Registration Officer? In the UK an Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) is a person who has the statutory duty to compile and maintain the electoral register. You can find contact details for your local ERO at Contact your ERO Your ERO can provide you with useful information. You should contact them before undertaking any voter registration activity. Getting in touch with your ERO can ensure that your campaign work is as effective as possible, as they can provide you with essential information to ensure a successful return for your hard work getting people registered to vote. We strongly recommend that you contact your ERO, but to get you started we have provided a list of the top 5 Dos and Don ts (see page 7). Get involved There is a range of activities that you as an organisation can carry out both on a national and local level to spread the word about registering to vote. Many organisations are doing this already, so we have provided you with some ideas to get you thinking about getting people registered to vote. Activity ideas Regularly update your organisation s social media platforms Link to the campaign website from your organisation s website Host fringe events at your national conference events Distribute the campaign materials at your venues / outlets Write articles for internal newsletters / publications Write a media release in support of the campaign Host a registration drive Distribute the campaign materials at your own events If you are planning any local activity, get in touch with your ERO to see whether they would like to get involved.

4 The Electoral Commission: The UK Parliamentary General Election Guide for partners National Voter Registration Day 5 February 2015 National Voter Registration Day on 5 February will launch a week of activity right across the nation to encourage as many people as possible to register to vote. If you are currently thinking about the best dates to focus your activity, then why not join hundreds of organisations which will be actively promoting voter registration on 5 February, National Voter Registration Day. Let us know what you re doing If you re planning creative ideas or events to get people registered to vote, then please share these with us. We can then promote the date, location and nature of your activity on our website and through our regular e-bulletins for partners to let everyone see what you are doing. By sharing ideas, we hope to help our partners come together and collaborate to help build momentum around the different activities that are taking place. Evaluating activity We will be conducting an evaluation of our public awareness work, and we will also be analysing which aspects of our partnership activity have worked well. A key element of this will include looking at what has worked online, where we will evaluate how successful we and our partners have been in getting people to register using the new online system To help us with this, please provide us with the website address of any online activity you undertake. We will collect this information and use it to inform our evaluation, which we will then be able to share with you once it is complete. Additionally, please do get in touch with any information on offline activity you are doing, such as any events or services you offer where you have promoted registration. This will help us to build a bigger picture of the potential audience that we are reaching through the different types of activity that are taking place, which will help inform our future plans. How to find out more The FAQ section on the About My Vote website will cover most of the scenarios that you are likely to encounter: Putting voters first We are an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. We regulate party and election finance and set standards for well-run elections. We work to support a healthy democracy, where elections and referendums are based on our principles of trust, participation, and no undue influence. The Electoral Commission 2014

5 2015 UK PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION 7 TOP TIPS FOR PARTNERS This guide gives you seven easy things you can do to help promote voter registration ahead of the general election. Please feel free to use any (or all!) of the ideas below to get voter registration on the agenda with everyone you know and work with. Everyone s vote matters. It s important that they are registered so they can make it count! #YourVoteMatters 1 Put up a poster It s simple to use our readymade poster. Why not pop one up in your local community venues, shops or communal office areas, such as the staff kitchen? YOU MUST BE REGISTERED IN ORDER TO VOTE 2 Add an signature An IER signature is available to download from the Electoral Commission s website. To vote in the 2015 General Election you must register by 20 April. Register now online at YOUR VOTE MATTERS MAKE SURE YOU RE IN 3 Add a post to your Facebook page Here is some suggested copy you could use: [Extract of sample text] Did you know? The way you register to vote has changed! This means that if you ve recently changed address or you are new voter, you need to register yourself. You can now register online at Make sure you don t miss out on having your say. #YourVoteMatters

6 4 Send a tweet It only takes a minute or two to send a tweet and it would be great if you can do this a few times over the coming months. We ve got some sample tweets below for you to use, but do of course feel free to come up with the best approach for your audience: #YourVoteMatters If you still need to register to vote, you can do it online at: bit.ly/1pamzz5 Are you registered to vote? #YourVoteMatters bit.ly/1o42ixp If you turn 18 on or before #GE15 Happy birthday! You can also now vote! See here for how to register: bit.ly/1pamzz5 #YourVoteMatters 5 Drop a mention into your e-bulletin or newsletter If your organisation has an internal newsletter or e-bulletin you could let your teams know that the general election is coming and what you are doing to build awareness, including information about what they can do to help you spread the message. You can point them to the free resources on our website here as well. 6 Set up a partnership web page If you can, how about setting up a section about how people can register on your website, directing people straight to the information that is most relevant to them. Here is readymade copy that you could use for that page. If you would like to use different copy but still use the Your vote matters make sure you re in logo, please get in touch and we can help you to develop something: [Extract of sample text] You need to register in order to be able to vote in the 2015 UK Parliamentary General Election. If you aren t registered to vote, you won t have the chance to have a say on who represents you. The way you register to vote in England and Wales and Scotland has changed. The new system means you can now register online. It also means that everyone has become responsible for registering themselves... 7 Blog about it! If your organisation loves to blog why not spread the word about this important issue. Alternatively you could add a guest blog from us. We would also be keen to hear from you if you would be interested in producing a guest blog for our website. [Extract of sample text] The 2015 General Election is coming make sure you re registered to vote With the 2015 General Election less than six months away, it s now more important than ever to ensure that you register to vote. With the introduction of online registration, it s now easier than ever to register to vote. It only takes a few minutes. Visit Your vote matters. Make sure you re in. Registration deadline for the UK Parliamentary General Election is midnight on Monday 20 April If you re not registered, you won t be able to vote. Voting is your right and your vote matters! #YourVoteMatters It s easier than ever to register go to

7 The Electoral Commission: The UK Parliamentary General Election Guide for partners We are aware that some of you may have questions relating to specific issues which may have an impact on your campaign activity. The below guidance will help answer some of those questions. Guidance for non-party campaigners Handling paper registration forms As you may be aware, the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 has changed the rules in the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 on non-party campaigning (campaigning in the run-up to elections on particular issues, or for or against particular parties or candidates, which is undertaken by individuals or organisations that are not standing as political parties or candidates.) The non-party campaigning rules apply to spending on certain campaigning activities that can reasonably be seen as intended to influence voters to vote for or against a political party or a category of candidates and is aimed at, seen or heard by, or involves the public. In July we published our guidance on the new rules and the changes in the Act have been in force since 19 September Spending on an electoral registration drive is not covered by the campaigner rules unless the drive is also doing something that could reasonably be regarded as intended to influence voters to vote for or against political parties or categories of candidates, including political parties or categories of candidates who support or do not support particular policies or issues. If you have any questions on the new rules please contact us on or pef@electoralcommission.org.uk. Where paper registration forms are used at events, the Electoral Commission designed form (available at should be used. This is because the forms we have produced have already been tested with a range of different audiences and have been designed to be simple to use, whilst capturing all the information that local Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will need to register someone, as well as making sure the applicant has all the relevant information they need to understand what they re being asked. It s important to remember when using paper forms that as a result of the information required on the voter registration form, you would be collecting and sending personal data. If people wish to take a registration form away from your event, you should ensure that the local ERO s address is clearly provided as the preferred address for its return. When sending forms yourself you will need to make sure that you have collected, stored and then delivered the forms to the relevant ERO (within two working days) in a way that is compliant with the Data Protection Act, which there are penalties for breaching. We know that many of our partners will be used to collecting and handling personal data, but it s always worth remembering that you can also now use the online registration system ( rather than paper forms, which people can access quickly and easily from PCs, tablets and smartphones. This will get the information direct to the ERO in the right format, and avoids any data security issues for you.

8 5 dos and don ts for a more effective partner campaign DO DON T 1. Promote online registration 1. Hold on to applications. Completed application forms should be sent to the ERO as soon as possible to ensure that people are registered in time for upcoming elections 2. If using paper forms, use official application material (available at to ensure EROs receive information in a format they can use 2. Breach data protection rules when handling personal data 3. Ensure applications are submitted as soon as possible. The registration deadline for the 2015 General Election is Monday 20 April 3. Fill out individual applications on behalf of electors without them present 4. Keep your ERO informed of any local activity you are planning (even if they are not directly involved) 4. Submit incomplete applications to your ERO 5. Advise potential new electors coming to any local events that they will need thier National Insurance number to register 5. Work in isolation if you are doing anything locally, keep your ERO informed!

9 Contact us To discuss becoming a partner or for more information, please contact Brendan Gallagher, Senior Communications Officer (Partnership partners@electoralcommission.org.uk For general enquiries about the Electoral Commission, please contact: info@electoralcommission.org.uk You can also follow us on Twitter at or find out more about voter registration at