Voting and elections service privacy notice

Why we are collecting your data

The Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer is a data controller and collects the personal data you provide for the purpose of registering your right to vote. You need to be registered to be able to vote in any election or referendum for which you are eligible.

We have a duty to maintain a complete and accurate register throughout the year. We will only collect the personal data we need from you to do this.

The legal basis for processing this data

The collection of your personal data is a task carried out in the public interest to ensure you are registered and able to vote in any election or referendum for which you are eligible, and to comply with the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 and Representation of the People Regulations 2001.

The law makes it compulsory to provide information to an electoral registration officer for inclusion in the full register. To meet our statutory obligations, we keep records about potential and actual electors, voters, citizens, candidates and their agents, as well as staff employed at the annual canvass and elections. These may be written down, or kept on a computer.

We collect:

your name, address, nationality and date of birth
unique identifiers (such as National Insurance Numbers)
signatures for absent vote checking
scanned application forms, documentary evidence, dates of any letters of correspondence
notes about any relevant circumstances that you have told us
your previous or any redirected address
the other occupants in your home
if you are over 76 or 16/17
whether you have chosen to opt out of the open version of the register

The data you provide will be processed by the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service managed by the Cabinet Office in order to verify your identity. As part of this process, your data will be shared with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Cabinet Office suppliers that are data processors for the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service. You can find more information about this on the GOV.UK website.

Who your information will be shared with

The information you provide is held in electoral registers which are managed by electoral registration officers who, using information received, keep 2 registers – the full electoral register and the open (edited) register.

The full register is published once a year and is updated every month. In accordance with the specific legislative provisions which permit its supply and restrict its use. It may only be supplied to the following people and organisations:

British Library
UK Statistics Authority
Electoral Commission
Boundary Commission for England
Jury Summoning Bureau
Elected Representatives (MPs, MEPs, Local Councillors)
Police and Crime Commissioner
Candidates standing for elections
Local and National Political Parties
The Council
Parish and Community councils
Police Forces, National Crime Agency
Public Library or local authority archive services
Government departments or bodies
Credit Reference Agencies
National Fraud Initiative
Electoral Registration and Returning Officers

We also have to disclose (share) your information with our Software providers and contracted printers; this is subject to appropriate safeguards.

It is a criminal offence for anyone who has a copy of the full register to supply, disclose or otherwise make use of information in this register for any purpose other than that set out in relevant legislation.

Anyone can inspect the full electoral register. Inspection of the register will be under supervision. Those inspecting it may take extracts from the register, but only by handwritten notes.

Information taken must not be used for direct marketing purposes, in accordance with data protection legislation, unless it has been published in the open version

Anyone who fails to observe these conditions is committing a criminal offence and may incur a penalty of up to £5,000.

The open register contains the same information as the full register, but is not used for elections or referendums. It is updated and published every month and may be sold to any person, organisation or company for a wide range of purposes. It is used by businesses and charities for checking names and address details; users of the register include direct marketing firms and online directory firms.

You can choose whether to have your personal details included in the open version of the register; however, they will be included unless you ask for them to be removed. Removing your details from the open register will not affect your right to vote.

We may also share your contact details with the Council, such as your phone number and email address.

How long we will hold your data for

The Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer are obliged to process your personal data in relation to preparing for and conducting elections. Your details will be kept and updated in accordance with our legal obligations and in line with statutory retention periods.

Your information rights

Under data protection legislation, you have certain rights about your information.

Check your rights in relation to your personal information.

How to find out more or make a complaint

If you have questions or concerns about how we collect, use or share your personal information, you can:

We will acknowledge your complaint and investigate your concerns in line with data protection legislation.

If you remain dissatisfied after you receive our response, or if you're unhappy with the way we've handled your complaint, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent regulator for data protection.

Contact them by post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or phone 0303 123 1113.

You can also make a complaint or find more information on the Commissioner's Office website.

If your complaint is not about data protection, find details about how to make a complaint about a council service.