The hole at the heart of our democracy

The worse off you are, the less likely you are to be on the electoral register, and it’s getting worse. The same is true if you are young, a student or from an ethnic minority.

 
In 2000 around three million people eligible to vote were not registered to do so. It also meant they could not sit on a jury and it restricted access to loans.

 
That figure has now leapt to at least 7.5m missing from the electoral register, with a million being lost in the last year. In some parts of the country the registration of 16 and 17-year-olds being registered to vote when they are 18 has dwindled from thousands to less than a hundred.

 
Liverpool Labour MP Luciana Berger said she was “appalled” by what had happened in Liverpool. The figures “show a 97 per cent drop in the number of 16 and 17-year-olds on Liverpool’s electoral register as a result of the introduction of the government’s new scheme, from 2,635 to just 76.”

 
Missing millions

 
The scandal of the missing voters was exposed during a debate on electoral registration in the floor of the Commons led by Labour’s Sadiq Khan. Khan told Parliament, “We want the electoral register to be as complete and accurate as possible – something that I hope we all want. After all, it is the lifeblood of our democracy. If a person is not on the list, they cannot vote – it is as simple as that.”

 
Khan highlighted those most likely to be missing: “young voters, students, those who have recently changed address, those who rent privately, the unemployed, those from ethnic minorities and those in socio-economic groups D and E – in other words, poorer members of society.”

Although unspoken the implication was clear – it was those most likely to be Labour voters among the millions without a vote. The issue is not lost on Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner.

“It might sound dull to some people but the electoral register is at the heart of our democracy. If millions are missing then there is a hole at the heart of that democracy which can undermine it, and that needs to be addressed,” Turner said.

Anthony Curley, Unite’s national youth co-ordinator said, “This is the real generation gap and it’s very worrying. The numbers of young voters and students currently missing is an affront to democracy.

“We risk having a whole generation developing a non-voting habit. Young voices need to be heard by stepping up the drive to get them registered.”