The government has today conducted a public demonstration of the new system that will allow people to register to vote online from June.
The system, which is part of the government’s aim to make the electoral register as secure and convenient as possible, will go live later this year at the same time as Individual Electoral Registration (IER), which requires everyone to register to vote individually, instead of as a household.
Greg Clark, minister for Cities and the Constitution, unveiled the system at the government’s Sprint 14 conference.
He said: “As people increasingly grow to expect that they can conduct almost every aspect of their lives online, it is time electoral registration caught up. The new online registration system does just that.
“At the same time, individual registration will make sure that we have the most accurate register possible. By requiring a date of birth and National Insurance number from every individual, we can make sure that everyone who registers to vote is who they say they are.”
The new online registration system can be used on all platforms, including smartphones and tablets. The government said it has tested the “user-friendly” design of the site with electors of all ages and sections of society.
In September, the Cabinet Office released preliminary results from a data-matching ‘dry run’ of the switchover to the IER, which showed that approximately 78 percent of votes won’t have to do anything to remain on the electoral roll.